Law

biographical name

Edward 1750–1818 1st Baron Ellenborough ˈe-lən-ˌbər-ə 

-ˌbə-rə, 

-brə

English jurist

Kids Definition

law

noun

ˈlȯ

1

a

: a rule of conduct or action laid down and enforced by the supreme governing authority (as the legislature) of a community or established by custom

b

: the whole collection of such rules

the law of the land

c

: the control brought about by enforcing rules

forces of law and order

d

: trial in a court to decide what is just and right according to the laws

go to law

e

: an agent or agency for enforcing laws

2

capitalized : the first part of the Jewish scriptures compare hagiographa, prophets

3

: a basic rule or principle

the laws of poetry

4

a

: the profession of a lawyer

b

: the branch of knowledge that deals with laws and their interpretation and application

study law

5

: a rule or principle stating something that always works in the same way under the same conditions

the law of gravity

Medical Definition

law

noun

ˈlȯ 

: a statement of order or relation holding for certain phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions

Legal Definition

law

noun

ˈlȯ 

1

: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority: as

a

: a command or provision enacted by a legislature see also statute sense 1

b

: something (as a judicial decision) authoritatively accorded binding or controlling effect in the administration of justice

that case is no longer the law of this circuit

2

a

: a body of laws

the law of a state

broadly : laws and justice considered as a general and established entity

the law looks with disfavor on restraints on alienation

b

: common law compare equity sense 2

3

a

: the control or authority of the law

maintain law and order

b

: one or more agents or agencies involved in enforcing laws

c

: the application of a law or laws as distinct from considerations of fact

an error of law

see also issue of law at issue, matter of law at matter, question of law at question sense 2

4

: the whole body of laws and doctrines relating to one subject

contract law

the law of attractive nuisance

5

a

: the legal profession

practice law

b

: the nature, use, and effects of laws and legal systems as an area of knowledge or society

the politics of law

compare jurisprudence

Etymology

Old English lagu, of Scandinavian origin