Etymologically
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legislation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌledʒ.ɪˈsleɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French législation (14th century),[2] from Late Latin lēgislātiō, properly the phrase lēgis lātiō “a proposing, literally bearing, of a law”,[2][3][4] from lēgis, genitive of lēx “law”, and lātiō “a proposing”,[3][5] from lātus, the past participle used with ferre and tollere “to bear, raise”.[4] It is related to legislator and legal.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The making or enacting of laws: before 1655 in the OED, the 1650s in Etymonline, the mid-17th century in NODE and SOED.[6][2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

A legislative body, a legislature, was a sense from 1693, now obsolete.[6] The laws themselves, the product of legislative action, are from 1838.[2][6] Legislational is from 1829.[6]

Timeline

  • a. 1655 – the making of laws.[6]
  • 1693 – a legislature (obsolete).[6]
  • 1838 – enacted laws.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A law or body of laws proposed or enacted.
  2. The act or process of making laws; lawmaking by a legislature.
  • legislator
  • legislature
  • legislate
  • legal

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press