lawgiver

Etymology

It is formed from English law + giver,^[2][3][4] and the Middle English form was lawe yevere.^[3][5] The Middle English Dictionary records it among the compounds of laue meaning a legislator, beside laue berere and laue makere.^[6] The OED compares Medieval Latin legifer (“lawgiver”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Someone who establishes a law or a code of laws: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[2] Dictionary.com dates it to 1350–1400.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense; the OED notes that it is used especially of a person who lays down a foundational code, and more generally of any lawmaker.^[2][8] Johnson (1755) defined it as a legislator and quoted Bacon calling Solomon the lawgiver of the English nation.^[4] Black's Law Dictionary adds the sense of a judge who has the power to interpret law, and cites Bishop Hoadley's remark that whoever has absolute authority to interpret written or spoken laws is the true lawgiver.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1382 – one who makes or gives a law or code of laws.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who gives a code of laws to a people, especially a founding one: Solon is remembered as the lawgiver of Athens.^{[3][8][2][10]}
2. A legislator or lawmaker.^[8][10][2]
3. (law) A judge with the power to interpret law.^[9]

Word family

• lawgiving

Related words

• law
• giver

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ 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)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt