Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

legislate

verb
Save Word
leg·​is·​late | \ ˈle-jə-ˌslāt How to pronounce legislate (audio) \
legislated; legislating

Definition of legislate

intransitive verb

: to perform the function of legislation specifically : to make or enact laws

transitive verb

: to mandate, establish, or regulate by or as if by legislation
Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about legislate

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for legislate

Synonyms

Antonyms

Visit the Thesaurus for More 

Examples of legislate in a Sentence

They are attempting to legislate morality. the need to better legislate foreign trade trying to legislate changes in the current law
See More
Recent Examples on the Web The British Parliament has legislated to postpone by an additional three months. — Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, "Boris Johnson’s statements about the state of Brexit negotiations bear little relationship to reality, E.U. officials say," 6 Sep. 2019 The 1984 legislated Act allows interest on attorneys' trust accounts to be appropriated for legal services to the poor in Connecticut. — courant.com, "Raymond R. Norko," 1 Sep. 2019 Modesty, of course, is legislated differently in every place and time. — New York Times, "Naked Came the Strangers," 17 Aug. 2019 The Senate under McConnell’s leadership barely legislates; instead, Republicans are focused on confirming judges at a rapid clip, reshaping America’s courts to be more conservative. — Ella Nilsen, Vox, "Amy McGrath has officially announced her Senate race against Mitch McConnell," 9 July 2019 The world Sunstein legislates for is a world of reasonable individuals steeped in the minutiae of food safety regulation and brought to a peak of arousal by the promise of a clean data download. — Aaron Timms, The New Republic, "The Sameness of Cass Sunstein," 20 June 2019 The entities’ de facto nationalization, and the ensuing $190 billion bailout, revealed basic design flaws; yet for almost a decade, Congress and the executive branch have been unable to legislate a permanent replacement. — Charles Lane, Twin Cities, "Charles Lane: In our housing finance system, everyone is in favor of the wrong thing," 11 Sep. 2019 Austin McGuigan was legislated out of office after opening a series of investigations of influential Democrats. — Edmund H. Mahony, courant.com, "Kevin Kane to retire as chief state’s attorney after nearly half a century as a prosecutor in Connecticut," 27 Aug. 2019 Brown isn’t alone in his disappointment about some old-style helmets being legislated out of the league. — Jon Becker, The Mercury News, "Report: Antonio Brown tells Raiders he won’t play again if NFL won’t allow him to wear his old helmet," 9 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legislate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of legislate

1656, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

History and Etymology for legislate

back-formation from legislator

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about legislate

Statistics for legislate

Last Updated

3 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for legislate

The first known use of legislate was in 1656

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for legislate

legislate

verb
How to pronounce legislate (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of legislate

: to make laws
: to control, create, or cause (something) by making laws

See the full definition for legislate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

legislate

verb
leg·​is·​late | \ ˈle-jə-ˌslāt How to pronounce legislate (audio) \
legislated; legislating

Kids Definition of legislate

: to make laws

legislate

verb
leg·​is·​late | \ ˈle-jəs-ˌlāt How to pronounce legislate (audio) \
legislated; legislating

Legal Definition of legislate

intransitive verb

: to perform the function of legislation specifically : to make or enact laws

transitive verb

: to cause, create, provide, or bring about by legislation

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on legislate

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for legislate

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with legislate

Spanish Central: Translation of legislate

Nglish: Translation of legislate for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of legislate for Arabic Speakers

Comments on legislate

What made you want to look up legislate? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

white elephant

Listen to the pronounciation of white elephant

something of little or no value

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Pass the Little Ribbons: A Pasta Word Quiz

  • rotelle pasta
  • Match the pasta to its meaning in English: Rotelle
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Syn City

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games