law
The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a…The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
» I think it's a good law.
Думаю, це добрий закон.
Meaning
23 senses(countable, uncountable, usually)The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
(countable, uncountable, usually)The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
property law
commercial hunting and fishing law
legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity
(countable, uncountable, usually)Common law, as contrasted with equity.
(countable, uncountable)A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
A rule, such as:
(broadly, countable, uncountable)Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
the law of self-preservation
Gesetz
зако́нzakón, пра́вилоprávilo, пра́воprávo
зако́нzakón
(broadly, countable, uncountable)A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
the laws of playwriting and poetry
(broadly, countable, uncountable)A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.)
the laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
Gesetz
зако́нzakón
(broadly, countable, uncountable)A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Gesetz
зако́нzakón
(broadly, countable, uncountable)Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
the law of scarcity
the law of supply and demand
(broadly, countable, uncountable)A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
(broadly, countable, uncountable)One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
(countable, uncountable)The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Examples
1906 sentencesI think it's a good law.
Думаю, це добрий закон.
When did they pass that law?
Коли прийняли цей закон?
I like my mother-in-law.
Мені подобається моя свекруха.
ruМне нравится моя свекровь.
deIch mag meine Schwiegermutter.
I don't like my mother-in-law.
Я не люблю свою свекруху.
deIch mag meine Schwiegermutter nicht.
Tom and I went to law school together.
Ми з Томом вчилися разом на юридичному.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 3
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English lawe, laȝe, from Old English lagu (“law”), borrowed from Old Norse lǫgFrom Middle English lawe, laȝe, from Old English lagu (“law”), borrowed from Old Norse lǫg (“law”, literally “things laid down or firmly established”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots law (“law”), Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Faroese lóg (“law”), Norwegian lov (“law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”), Finnish laki (“law”). Compare typologically distant cognate Russian уложе́ние (uložénije). Displaced native Old English ǣ and ġesetnes. More at lay.
From Northern Middle English lawe, from Old English hlāw (“burial mound”). Also spelled low. See also Scots law.
From Middle English lagh, from Old Norse lag (“that which is lying or laid, position, price, way, sting, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid”). Cognate with Scots lauch (“one's tavern-reckoning or one's share of the cost, a score; a payment for drink or entertainment”), Middle English lai (“one's share of expenses, one's bill or account”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: lawsSynonyms
35 synonyms- the learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system:practice of law
- a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society:natural law
- a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature:law of nature
- the collection of rules imposed by authority:jurisprudence
- the branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do:jurisprudencelegal philosophy
- the force of policemen and officers:policepolice forceconstabulary
Word family
164 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
Collocations
12 patterns- against the law
- mother in law
- son in law
- breaking the law
- law abiding citizens
- obey the law
- brother in law
- broken any laws
- father in law
- violating any laws
- a law student
- above the law