I. ˈlȯ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English (northern dialect), from Old English hlāw, hlǣw; akin to Old High German hlēo grave mound, Gothic hlaiw tomb, Latin clivus hill, -clinare to incline — more at lean
dialect Britain : a conical hill or mound — usually used in place names
Berwick law
II. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English lawe, from Old English lagu, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse lög law, plural of lag layer, due place, order; akin to Old English or læg fate, Old Saxon gi lagu, Old High German ur lag fate, Old Norse liggja to lie — more at lie
1.
a.
(1) : a binding custom or practice of a community : a rule or mode of conduct or action that is prescribed or formally recognized as binding by a supreme controlling authority or is made obligatory by a sanction (as an edict, decree, rescript, order, ordinance, statute, resolution, rule, judicial decision, or usage) made, recognized, or enforced by the controlling authority
(2) : the whole body of such customs, practices, or rules constituting the organic rule prescribing the nature and conditions of existence of a state or other organized community
(3) : common law 1,2 — see martial law , military law , private law , public law , roman law
b.
(1) : the control or regulation brought about by the existence or enforcement of such law
preserved law and order in the town
(2) : the action of laws considered as a means of redressing wrongs : trial or remedial justice under or by the laws of the land : judicial remedy ; also : court action : litigation
developed the habit of going to law for the slightest provocation — H.A.Overstreet
(3) : a law enforcement agent or agency
when he found that goods had been stolen he called in the law
put out a guard to watch for the law while they robbed the store
c.
(1) : a rule, order, or injunction that it is advisable or obligatory to follow or observe
a law of self-preservation
(2) : a rule or custom of conduct
taking a walk every evening was one of his personal laws
d. : something consonant or compatible with established law or enforceable by such law
the decrees were judged not to be law and so were rescinded
e. : control , authority
the child submits to no law
f. : a rule or generalization (especially of established law) as opposed to a fact
a question of law , not a question of fact
2. usually capitalized
a. : divine teaching or instruction ; especially : a divine commandment or a revelation of the will of God
b. : the whole body of God's commandments or revelations : the will of God
c. obsolete : a religion or religious system
d. : a religious dispensation
3. : a rule of construction or procedure (as in art, a craft, or games) conforming to the conditions of success : principle
the laws of poetry
the laws of architecture
a law of courtesy
4. : a rule of right living or good conduct especially when conceived as having the sanction of God's will, of conscience or the moral nature, or of natural justice : moral law
5.
a. : the whole body of laws relating to one subject or emanating from one source usually including the writings on them and the judicial proceedings under them
insurance law
criminal law
probate law
— compare adjective law , civil law , commercial law , decisional law , equity , law merchant , statutory law , substantive law
b. : a rule or a body of rules or prescriptions for conduct to be observed in a particular place or under particular circumstances
the law of the house
6.
a. : the legal profession — usually used with the
b. : law as a department of knowledge : legal science : jurisprudence
c. : legal learning or knowledge
a man with much history and letters but little law
7. obsolete : mercy , indulgence
8. : an allowance of time or distance given to a weaker competitor in sports or to a hare or fox before the hounds are released in hunting
9.
a. : a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions
a law of thermodynamics
the laws of chemistry
— often used in combination with the name of the discoverer of the order or relation
Boyle's law
Gresham's law
b. : a relation proved or assumed to be true between or among mathematical expressions
c. : the observed regularity of nature
Synonyms:
rule , canon , precept , regulation , ordinance : each of these terms indicates a principle governing action or procedure. law implies issuance and imposition of that principle as binding and obligatory by an ultimate sovereign authority
the laws of our federal government
In physical sciences law suggests a principle or assertion formulated on the basis of conclusive evidence or tests and presumably universally valid
when this formula first dawned on the mind of Newton, it was a scientific conjecture; when it was tested and proved to conform to facts, it became an accepted scientific law — P.E.More
law may refer to that which is written or uncodified but universally accepted
the common law of England
rule , often interchangeable with law in ordinary uses, may be used in more personal, individual, or specific situations with somewhat less inexorability and power implied
so many handsome girls are unmarried, and so many of the other sort wedded, that there is no possibility of establishing a rule — W.M.Thackeray
ritual is not easy compliance with usage; it is strict compliance with detailed and punctilious rule — W.G.Sumner
the rules of stud poker are drawn up to accord with the laws of chance
canon in nonreligious use may suggest a principle of treatment or judgment in intellectual and creative activities that is generally accepted as a valid guide or test
the Aristotelian canon that the “nature” of a thing must be sought in its completed development, its final form — W.R.Inge
prefer the particular to the general, the definite to the vague — as a canon of rhetoric — A.T.Quiller-Couch
More than other words in this group precept is likely to suggest something that is advisory and nonobligatory
the Old Bailey, at that date, was a choice illustration of the precept that “whatever is is right” — Charles Dickens
the one child to whom the “spare-the-rod” precept did not apply — Margaret Deland
regulation suggests directives for a detail of procedure or conduct applying within an organization and established with executive or administrative authority
regular scholarships are awarded in accordance with the following regulations set up by the Committee on Scholarships — Official Register of Harvard University
a colonel not on flying status was by regulation ineligible for most Air Force commands — J.G.Cozzens
ordinance suggests an obligatory order, direction, or injunction governing some detail of conduct and issued and enforced by a limited and not sovereign agency, for instance a municipal government or a county or shire governing board
an ordinance about parking on Main Street
the new ordinance about delinquent property taxes
Synonym: see in addition principle .
•
- have the law on
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English lawen, from lawe, n.
intransitive verb
: to go to law
transitive verb
1. chiefly dialect : to sue or prosecute at law
I won't go to the sheriff and I won't law you; I'll shoot you — Luke Short
2. : to mutilate (an animal) so as to prevent mischief : expeditate
IV.
now dialect
variant of low
V. interjection
Etymology: partly alteration of la (II) , partly euphemism for Lord
now dialect — used especially to express surprise