public law

noun

1

: a legislative enactment affecting the public at large

2

: a branch of law concerned with regulating the relations of individuals with the government and the organization and conduct of the government itself compare private law

Examples of public law in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But electronic monitoring, if still required then, could come back into the picture after the presidency, said Julien Jeanneney, a professor of public law at the University of Strasbourg. — ABC News, 8 July 2026

Exemptions were widely understood to be an incentive for nonprofits to create new affordable housing developments, said Christopher McLaughlin, a public law and government professor at the UNC School of Government. — Charlotte Observer, 24 Apr. 2026

As China gets stronger, illusions about what international public law can do become both more dangerous and more absurd. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026

And yet, Washington responded to Genet not with rashness and bravado but with restraint made public law. — Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1531, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for public law

• allantois
• baccarat
• chickasaw
• mackinaw
• overawe
• oversaw
• quebecois
• yojana
• aa
• aha
• bashaw
• bradshaw

Legal Definition

public law

noun

1

: an enactment of a legislature that affects the public at large throughout the entire territory (as a state or nation) which is subject to the jurisdiction of the legislature or within a particular subdivision of its jurisdiction : general law

called also public act, public statute

compare local law sense 1a

2

a

: the area of law that deals with the relations of individuals with the state and regulates the organization and conduct of government compare private law

b

: international law regulating the relations among sovereign states or nations as distinguished from private international law