legislative

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈledʒ.ɪ.slə.tɪv/, /ˈledʒ.ɪ.sleɪ.tɪv/, US /ˈledʒ.ɪ.sleɪ.t̬ɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English legislator + -ive,^[2][3] or from legislation and legislator with the suffix -ative, after French législatif.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the making of laws: about 1641 in the OED, the 1640s in Etymonline, 1640 in MWU.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

As a noun, the power of making laws or the body in which it rests, the legislature, is from 1642.^[5] Having the function of legislating, as in legislative assembly and legislative power, is from 1651,^[5] and enacted by legislation from 1855.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1641 – of law-making.^[5]
• 1642 – the noun, the law-making body.^[5]
• 1651 – having the power to legislate.^[5]
• 1855 – enacted by legislation.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to the making of laws; having the power to make laws: a legislative assembly.
2. Relating to a legislature.

Noun

1. (rare) The law-making body of a government; the legislature.

Word family

• legislatively
• nonlegislative
• prelegislative
• semilegislative
• unlegislative
• quasi-legislative

Related words

• legislate
• legislation
• legislator
• legislature
• legal
• legitimate

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press