Law

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

Law, n. [OE. lawe, laghe, AS. lagu, from the root of E. lie: akin to OS. lag, Icel. lög, Sw. lag, Dan. lov; cf. L. lex, E. legal. A law is that which is laid, set, or fixed; like statute, fr. L. statuere to make to stand. See Lie to be prostrate.].

•  In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.  [1913 Webster]

  " A law may be universal or particular, written or unwritten, published or secret. From the nature of the highest laws a degree of permanency or stability is always implied; but the power which makes a law, or a superior power, may annul or change it."  [1913 Webster]

  "These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made."  [1913 Webster]

  "The law of thy God, and the law of the King."  [1913 Webster]

  "As if they would confine the Interminable . . .
  Who made our laws to bind us, not himself."  [1913 Webster]

  "His mind his kingdom, and his will his law."  [1913 Webster]
•  In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.  [1913 Webster]
•  The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.  [1913 Webster]

  "What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets."  [1913 Webster]
•  An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.  [1913 Webster]
•  In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.  [1913 Webster]
•  In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.  [1913 Webster]
•  In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.  [1913 Webster]
•  Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; -- including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.  [1913 Webster]
•  Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.  [1913 Webster]

  "Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason."  [1913 Webster]

  "Law is beneficence acting by rule."  [1913 Webster]

  "And sovereign Law, that state's collected will
  O'er thrones and globes elate,
  Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill."  [1913 Webster]
•  Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.  [1913 Webster]

  "When every case in law is right."  [1913 Webster]

  "He found law dear and left it cheap."  [1913 Webster]
•  An oath, as in the presence of a court.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Justice; equity.

Law, v. t. 

 Same as Lawe, v. t.  [1913 Webster]

Law, interj. [Cf. La.].

 An exclamation of mild surprise.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Law, n.
1 a a rule enacted or customary in a community and recognized as enjoining or prohibiting certain actions and enforced by the imposition of penalties. b a body of such rules (the law of the land; forbidden under Scots law).
2 the controlling influence of laws; a state of respect for laws (law and order).
3 laws collectively as a social system or subject of study (was reading law).
4 (with defining word) any of the specific branches or applications of law (commercial law; law of contract).
5 binding force or effect (their word is law).
6 (prec. by the) a the legal profession. b colloq. the police.
7 the statute and common law (opp. EQUITY).
8 (in pl.) jurisprudence.
9 a the judicial remedy; litigation. b the lawcourts as providing this (go to law).
10 a rule of action or procedure, e.g. in a game, social context, form of art, etc.
11 a regularity in natural occurrences, esp. as formulated or propounded in particular instances (the laws of nature; the law of gravity; Parkinson's law).
12 a divine commandments as expressed in the Bible or other sources. b (Law of Moses) the precepts of the Pentateuch.

Idiom

at (or in) law according to the laws. be a law unto oneself do what one feels is right; disregard custom. go to law take legal action; make use of the lawcourts. law-abiding obedient to the laws. law-abidingness obedience to the laws. law agent (in Scotland) a solicitor. law centre Brit. an independent publicly-funded advisory service on legal matters. Law Lord a member of the House of Lords qualified to perform its legal work. law of diminishing returns see DIMINISH. law of nature = natural law. laws of war the limitations on belligerents' action recognized by civilized nations. law term a period appointed for the sitting of lawcourts. lay down the law be dogmatic or authoritarian. take the law into one's own hands redress a grievance by one's own means, esp. by force.

Etymology

OE lagu f. ON lag something 'laid down' or fixed, rel. to LAY(1)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Law

n.

Once Law was sitting on the bench,
And Mercy knelt a-weeping.
"Clear out!" he cried, "disordered wench!
Nor come before me creeping.
Upon your knees if you appear,
'Tis plain your have no standing here."

Then Justice came. His Honor cried:
"_Your_ status? -- devil seize you!"
"_Amica curiae,_" she replied --
"Friend of the court, so please you."
"Begone!" he shouted -- "there's the door --
I never saw your face before!"
G.J.

THESAURUS

Law

Dogberry, Eighteenth Amendment, John Law, Procrustean law, Prohibition Party, Volstead Act, a priori truth, act, appointment, assize, axiom, ban, bill, bluecoat, bobby, brevet, bring action against, bring into court, bring suit, bring to justice, bring to trial, brocard, bull, bylaw, canon, code, command, commandment, contraband, convention, cop, copper, criminology, criterion, declaration, decree, decree-law, decreement, decretal, decretum, denial, dick, dictate, dictation, dictum, diktat, disallowance, drag into court, edict, edictum, embargo, enactment, exclusion, exigency, fiat, flatfoot, flattie, forbiddance, forbidden fruit, forbidding, forensic psychiatry, form, formality, formula, formulary, fundamental, gendarme, general principle, go into litigation, go to law, golden rule, guideline, guiding principle, gumshoe, imperative, implead, index, index expurgatorius, index librorum prohibitorum, inhibition, injunction, institute, institution, interdict, interdiction, interdictum, ipse dixit, jurisprudence, jus, law of nature, legal chemistry, legal medicine, legal science, legislation, lex, litigate, mandate, maxim, measure, medical jurisprudence, medico-legal medicine, mitzvah, moral, necessity, no-no, nomography, norm, norma, order of nature, ordinance, ordonnance, peeler, pig, postulate, precept, preclusion, prescribed form, prescript, prescription, prevention, principium, principle, proclamation, prohibition, prohibitory injunction, pronouncement, pronunciamento, proposition, proscription, prosecute, prosecute at law, put in suit, put on trial, refusal, regulation, rejection, repression, rescript, restrictive covenants, rubric, rule, ruling, ruling out, seek in law, seek justice, self-evident truth, senatus consult, senatus consultum, set form, settled principle, shamus, standard, standing order, statute, sue, sumptuary laws, suppression, taboo, take to court, tenet, the cops, the fuzz, the law, theorem, truism, truth, ukase, universal law, universal truth, working principle, working rule, zoning, zoning laws

ROGET THESAURUS

Law

Precept

N precept, direction, instruction, charge, prescript, prescription, recipe, receipt, golden rule, maxim, rule, canon, law, code, corpus juris, lex scripta, act, statute, rubric, stage direction, regulation, form, formula, formulary, technicality, canon law, norm, order.

Conformity

N conformity, conformance, observance, habituation, naturalization, conventionality, agreement, example, instance, specimen, sample, quotation, exemplification, illustration, case in point, object lesson, elucidation, standard, model, pattern, rule, nature, principle, law, order of things, normal state, natural state, ordinary state, model state, normal condition, natural condition, ordinary condition, model condition, standing dish, standing order, Procrustean law, law of the Medes and Persians, hard and fast rule, conformable to rule, regular, according to regulation, according to rule, according to Hoyle, according to Cocker, according to Gunter, en regle, selon les regles, well regulated, orderly, symmetric, conventional, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, in the natural order of things, ordinary, common, habitual, usual, everyday, workaday, in the order of the day, naturalized, typical, normal, nominal, formal, canonical, orthodox, sound, strict, rigid, positive, uncompromising, Procrustean, secundum artem, shipshape, technical, exempIe, illustrative, in point, conformably, by rule, agreeably to, in conformity with, in accordance with, in keeping with, according to, consistently with, as usual, ad instar, instar omnium, more solito, more-majorum, for the sake of conformity, as a matter of course, of course, pro forma, for form's sake, by the card, invariably, for example, exempli gratia, e, g, inter alia, among other things, for instance, cela va sans dire, ex pede Herculem, noscitur a sociis, ne e quovis ligno Mercurius fiat, they are happy men whose natures sort with their v, The nail that sticks up hammered down, Tall poppy syndrome, Stick your neck out and it may get cut off.

Permission

N permission, leave, allowance, sufferance, tolerance, toleration, liberty, law, license, concession, grace, indulgence, favor, dispensation, exemption, release, connivance, vouchsafement, authorization, warranty, accordance, admission, permit, warrant, brevet, precept, sanction, authority, firman, hukm, pass, passport, furlough, license, carte blanche, ticket of leave, grant, charter, patent, letters patent, permitting, permissive, indulgent, permitted, patent, chartered, permissible, allowable, lawful, legitimate, legal, legalized, licit, unforbid, unforbidden, unconditional, by leave, with leave, on leave, speciali gratia, under favor of, pace, ad libitum, by all means, yes, avec permissin, brevet d'invention.

Legality

N legality, legitimacy, legitimateness, legislature, law, code, corpus juris, constitution, pandect, charter, enactment, statute, rule, canon, ordinance, institution, regulation, bylaw, byelaw, decree, ordonnance, standing order, plebiscite, legal process, form, formula, formality, rite, arm of the law, habeas corpus, fieri facias, jurisprudence, nomology, legislation, codification, equity, common law, lex, lex nonscripta, law of nations, droit des gens, international law, jus gentium, jus civile, civil law, canon law, crown law, criminal law, statute law, ecclesiastical law, administrative law, lex mercatoria, constitutionalism, constitutionality, justice, court, tribunal, judge, lawyer, attorney, legal counsel, legal, legitimate, according to law, vested, constitutional, chartered, legalized, lawful, statutable, statutory, legislatorial, legislative, regulatory, regulated, legally, in the eye of the law, de jure, ignorantia legis neminem excusat, ignorance of the law is no excuse, where law ends tyranny begins.

Right

N right, what ought to be, what should be, fitness, summum jus, justice, equity, equitableness, propriety, fair play, impartiality, measure for measure, give and take, lex talionis, Astraea, Nemesis, Themis, scales of justice, evenhanded justice, karma, suum cuique, clear stage, fair field and no favor, level playing field, morals, law, honor, virtue, right, good, just, reasonable, fit, equal, equable, equatable, evenhanded, fair, legitimate, justifiable, rightful, as it should be, as it ought to be, lawful deserved, rightly, +a bon droit, au bon droit, in justice, in equity, in reason, without distinction of persons, without regard to persons, without respect to persons, upon even terms, Int, all right!, fair's fair, Dieu et mon droit, in equal scale weighing delight and dole, justitia cuum cuique distribuit, justitiae soror incorrupta fides, justitia virtutem regina, thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just.