Definition of 'law'
Word forms: plural laws
1. singular noun
The law is a system of rules that a society or government develops in order to deal with
crime, business agreements, and social relationships. You can also use the law to refer to the people who work in this system.
2. uncountable noun [usually adjective NOUN]
3. countable noun [oft noun NOUN]
A law is one of the rules in a system of law which deals with a particular type of agreement,
relationship, or crime.
4. plural noun
The laws of an organization or activity are its rules, which are used to organize and control
it.
5. countable noun
6. countable noun
A law is a natural process in which a particular event or thing always leads to a particular result.
7. countable noun
8. uncountable noun
Law or the law is all the professions which deal with advising people about the law, representing people in court, or giving decisions and punishments.
10. See also court of law, rule of law
11.
See above the law
12.
See law of averages
13.
See by law
14.
See go to law
15.
16.
17.
18. Sod's Law
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
law in British English 1
noun
▶ Related adjectives: , , , judicialjuraljuridicallegal1.
a rule or set of rules, enforceable by the courts, regulating the government of a state, the relationship between the organs of government and
the subjects of the state, and the relationship or conduct of subjects towards each
other
2.
4.
a rule of conduct
a law of etiquette
6. See the law
9.
the science or knowledge of law; jurisprudence
10.
the principles originating and formerly applied only in courts of common law
Compare equity (sense 3)11.
a general principle, formula, or rule describing a phenomenon in mathematics, science, philosophy, etc
the laws of thermodynamics
12. See the Law
13. See a law unto himself
14. See go to law
15. See lay down the law
16. See reading the Law
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English lagu, from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic lög (pl) things laid down, law
Word Frequency
law in British English 2
noun
Scottish
a hill, esp one rounded in shape
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English hlǣwWord Frequency
law in British English 3
adjective
a Scots word for low1
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
Law in British English
noun
1.
Andrew Bonar (ˈbɒnə
). 1858–1923, British Conservative statesman, born in Canada; prime minister (1922–23)
2.
Denis. born 1940, Scottish footballer; a striker, he played for Manchester United (1962–73) and Scotland (30 goals in 55 games, 1958–74); European Footballer
of the Year (1964)
3.
John. 1671–1729, Scottish financier. He founded the first bank in France (1716) and the Mississippi Scheme for the development of Louisiana (1717), which collapsed due to excessive speculation
4.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
law in American English
noun
1.
a.
all the rules of conduct established and enforced by the authority, legislation, or custom of a given community, state, or other group
b.
any one of such rules
3.
the branch of knowledge dealing with such rules; jurisprudence
4.
the system of courts in which such rules are referred to in defending one's rights, securing justice, etc.
to resort to law to settle a matter
6.
common law, as distinguished from equity
8.
a.
a sequence of events in nature or in human activities that has been observed to occur
with unvarying uniformity under the same conditions
: often law of natureb.
the formulation in words of such a sequence
the law of gravitation, the law of diminishing returns
12. Ancient Mathematics and Logic Etc
the laws of exponents
verb intransitive, verb transitive
14. Informal, Dialectal
to take legal action (against)
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈtheory
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: law, in its specific application, implies prescription and enforcement by a ruling authority
[the law of the land]; a rule may not be authoritatively enforced, but it is generally observed in the interests
of order, uniformity, etc. [the rules of golf]; regulation refers to a rule of a group or organization, enforced by authority [military regulations]; a statute is a law enacted by a legislative body; an ordinance is a local, generally municipal, law; a canon1 is, strictly, a law of a church, but the term is also used of any rule or principle
regarded as true or in conformity with good usage [the canons of taste]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME lawe < OE lagu < Anglo-Norm *lagu, akin to ON lǫg, pl. of lag, something laid down or settled < IE base *legh-, to lie down > lie1Word Frequency
law in American English 1
(lɔ)
noun
1.
the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether
in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision
2.
any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution
Compare bylaw, statute law3.
the controlling influence of such rules; the condition of society brought about by
their observance
maintaining law and order
4.
a system or collection of such rules
5.
the department of knowledge concerned with these rules; jurisprudence
to study law
6.
the body of such rules concerned with a particular subject or derived from a particular
source
commercial law
7.
an act of the supreme legislative body of a state or nation, as distinguished from the constitution
8.
the principles applied in the courts of common law, as distinguished from equity
9.
the profession that deals with law and legal procedure
to practice law
11.
a person, group, or agency acting officially to enforce the law
The law arrived at the scene soon after the alarm went off
12.
any rule or injunction that must be obeyed
Having a nourishing breakfast was an absolute law in our household
13.
a rule or principle of proper conduct sanctioned by conscience, concepts of natural justice, or the will of a deity
a moral law
15. (in philosophy, science, etc.)
a.
a statement of a relation or sequence of phenomena invariable under the same conditions
b.
a mathematical rule
16.
a principle based on the predictable consequences of an act, condition, etc
the law of supply and demand
17.
a rule, principle, or convention regarded as governing the structure or the relationship of an element in the structure
of something, as of a language or work of art
the laws of playwriting
the laws of grammar
18.
a commandment or a revelation from God
20. See the Law
21.
the law of Christ
22. Brit Sport
an allowance of time or distance given a quarry or competitor in a race, as the head start given a fox before the hounds are set after it
23. See be a law to oneself
24. See lay down the law
transitive verb
27. Brit (formerly)
to expeditate (an animal)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
lawlike adjective
Word origin
[bef. 1000; ME law(e), lagh(e), OE lagu ‹ ON *lagu, early pl. of lag layer, stratum, a laying in order, fixed tune, (in collective sense) law; akin to
lay1, lie2]Word Frequency
law in American English 2
(lɔ)
adjective, adverb or noun
obsolete low1
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word Frequency
law in American English 3
(lɔ)
intransitive verb, transitive verb or noun
obsolete low2
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word Frequency
law in American English 4
(lɔ)
interjection
old-fashioned
(used as an exclamation expressing astonishment)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1580–90; form of lord]Examples of 'law' in a sentence
law
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Quotations
The end of the law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedomSecond Treatise of Civil Government
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching
me, and I think that's pretty important
The law is a causeway upon which so long as he keeps to it a citizen may walk safelyA Man For All Seasons
No brilliance is needed in the law. Nothing but common sense, and relatively clean finger nailsA Voyage Round My Father
Laws were made to be brokenNoctes Ambrosianae
The Common Law of England has been laboriously built about a mythical figure - the figure of "The Reasonable Man"Uncommon Law
We do not get good laws to restrain bad people. We get good people to restrain bad
lawsAll Things Considered
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because ' tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute himTable Talk
Written laws are like spider's webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful
Law is a bottomless pitThe History of John Bull
It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent sufferCommentaries on the Laws of England
The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itselfBleak House
The laws of most countries are far worse than the people who execute them, and many of them are only able to remain laws by being seldom or never carried into effectThe Subjection of Women
Hard cases make bad laws
One law for the rich, and another for the poor
Trends of
law
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Source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
In other languages
law
British English: law
/lɔː/ NOUN
The law is a system of rules that a society or government develops to deal with things like crime.
Driving too fast is against the law.
- American English: law /ˈlɔ/
- Arabic: قَانُونٌ
- Brazilian Portuguese: lei
- Chinese: 法律
- Croatian: zakon
- Czech: právo zákony
- Danish: lov
- Dutch: wet
- European Spanish: ley
- Finnish: laki
- French: loi
- German: Gesetz
- Greek: νόμος
- Italian: legge
- Japanese: 法律
- Korean: 법
- Norwegian: lov
- Polish: prawo przepis
- European Portuguese: lei
- Romanian: lege
- Russian: закон
- Latin American Spanish: ley
- Swedish: lag juridik
- Thai: กฎหมาย
- Turkish: yasa
- Ukrainian: закон
- Vietnamese: luật
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Definition of law from the Collins English Dictionary
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