law English · revision 2008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1000 (Old English lagu)|origins=ine-pro *legh-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɔː/, US /lɑː/, /lɔː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lawe]], [[inh|ang|lagu]] (plural [[m|ang|laga]]),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) [[bor|non|*lagu]], an early plural of [[m|non|lag|t=layer, measure; something laid down or fixed]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002)^(RHWU) It comes from the Germanic base of [[lay]] and [[lie]],^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) from [[ine-pro|*legh-|t=to lie, lay]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) Related Germanic words are [[osx|gilagu]] and [[goh|urlag|t=fate]].^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart compares [[de|Gesetz|t=law]], from [[m|de|setzen|t=to set]], for the same development from “something laid down” to “law”.^(Barnhart 1988) The word is not related to [[la|lēx]], the source of [[legal]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An ordinance or rule laid down by authority, and a district governed by the same laws: Old English ''lagu'', before 1000.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It was rare in Old English, where the usual words were ''ǣ'' and ''gesetnes''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Law of the land'' is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and the ''law of nature'', after Latin ''lēx nātūrae'', is alluded to about 1225.^(Barnhart 1988) The Mosaic law is ''the law'' from 1382,^(HTOED) and the ''law of nations'' appears before 1548.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Law and order'' have been paired since the late 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) In science a ''law'' has been a statement of a constant order in nature since the 1660s.^(Etymonline) ''To lay down the law'' (1690s) referred to biblical law.^(Etymonline) Dickens's Mr Bumble said that “the law is a ass” in ''Oliver Twist''.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb “to go to law” is dated to the late 15th century by the Shorter Oxford,^(SOED 2002) about 1550 by Merriam-Webster^(MW Collegiate) and the 1640s by Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Old English had ''lagian'' “to ordain”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – Old English ''lagu''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1225 – the law of nature.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – ''law of the land''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1382 – the Mosaic law.^(HTOED)

+ * late 15th century – verb, to litigate.^(SOED 2002)

+ * before 1548 – ''law of nations''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 16th century – ''law and order''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1660s – a scientific law.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – ''lay down the law''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A rule of conduct set by custom, agreement or [[authority]].^(AHD)

+ # The body of rules that a community enforces; a [[legal]] system.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A branch of that system: ''criminal law''.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # The legal profession, or the study of law.^(AHD)

+ # A statement of a constant order in nature: ''the laws of physics''.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+ # ''(the Law)'' The [[Torah|alt=Mosaic law]].^(HTOED)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(dialect)'' To go to law; to [[litigate]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lawlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lawing]]

+ * [[lay]]

+ * [[lie]]

+ * [[outlaw]]

+ * [[lawyer]]

+ * [[lawful]]

+ * [[legal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Cambridge pronouncing dictionary notes that British speakers are sensitive to an intrusive ''r'' in ''law and order'', which older speakers deplore but which is often heard.^(Roach et al. 2011) Two other words are spelled ''law'': a Scots and northern word for a rounded hill (''North Berwick Law''), a variant of ''low'' from Old English ''hlāw'',^(SOED 2002)^(Chambers 2008)^(MWU 2024) and an interjection of surprise, related to ''lo'' and ''la'' or a form of ''Lord''.^(SOED 2002)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}