lawful

Etymology

It is formed from English law + -ful,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} in Middle English laueful, also lafful^[7] and laghful.^[5][6] Hoad and the MED see a model in Old Norse: Hoad says it was formed after Old Norse lǫgfullr,^[8] and the MED gives its etymology as Old Norse.^[7] The OED and Etymonline only compare the Norse word,^[2][5] the OED adding Danish lovfuld.^[2] The base is from Old English lagu, from Old Norse *lagu, and the native Old English adjective was lahlic.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, following the law, honouring a duty or promise: before 1225, in Vices and Virtues.^[2] It already appears as a surname in 1230, Hugoni Lafful, and later as William de Laghfulle (1267) and Henry Laghful (1293).^[2] Other dictionaries date the adjective later: to the 13th century,^[8] to 1250–1300,^[6] about 1300,^[5] or the 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word moved from the person who keeps the law to what the law recognises: a valid marriage and a legitimate child (1357), a day on which business may legally be done (1385), a qualified officer (1391), the age of legal adulthood (1434) and genuine money (1424).^[2] The sense "permitted by law" is recorded from before 1387,^[2] or the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[5] also with reference to the law of God or the church.^[2][7] Chaucer used it three times.^[9] A looser sense, "acceptable under some set of rules, justifiable", is recorded from before 1475.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as agreeable or conformable to law, and legitimate.^[10] In medicine a "lawful" disease, from 1583 to 1634, was one caused by a humour in its natural state.^[2] From 1792 the word could describe what is governed by principles of nature or science.^[2] Regional English used it as an exclamation in the north of England, Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire, often in lawful case or lawful me,^[11][2] and in Scotland a lawful day was a weekday, as opposed to Sunday or a legal holiday.^[11] Green's Dictionary of Slang lists compounds such as lawful blanket and lawful jam.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1225 – of a person, law-abiding, dutiful.^[2]
• 1357 – of a marriage, legally valid; of a spouse or child, legitimate.^[2]
• 1385 – of a day or time, when business is legally permitted.^[2]
• before 1387 – permitted by law.^[2]
• 1391 – appointed or recognized by law.^[2]
• 1424 – of money, authorized by law as genuine.^[2]
• 1425 – adverb, lawfully (obsolete by 1656).^[2]
• 1434 – of age, carrying legal adult rights.^[2]
• 1502 – noun, that which is lawful (rare).^[2]
• 1583 – in medicine, of a disease caused by an unaltered humour (obsolete by 1634).^[2]
• 1792 – governed by principles established by science.^[2]
• before 1796 – interjection of fear, wonder or dismay.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Allowed by the law; legal: a lawful protest.^[4][13][2]
2. Established or recognized by law; rightful: the lawful tenant of the farm.^[4][13][2]
3. Of a marriage, valid in law; of a child, legitimate.^[3][2]
4. Of a day or time, one on which business may legally be done.^[4][2][11]
5. Keeping the law; law-abiding.^{[4][13][14][2]}
6. Governed by or describable through natural laws.^[3][2]

Interjection

1. (regional English) An exclamation of fear, wonder or dismay.^[2][11]

Word family

• lawfully
• lawfulness

Related words

• law
• unlawful
• legal

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster groups lawful, legal, legitimate and licit as meaning in accordance with law, and notes that lawful may apply to conformity with law of any sort, whether natural, divine, common or canon.^[14][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
14. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster