Law

How to spell law

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce law

What does law mean?

1. nounA rule, or the whole system of rules, enforced by a government or authority.
2. nounA scientific principle that describes how something always behaves under given conditions.

Law in a sentence

• The new law requires drivers to use winter tyres.

• The second law of thermodynamics governs how heat moves.

• She studied law for three years before joining a firm.

• Every physics student learns Newton's third law of motion.

Where does law come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This is a native, very old word that English took from the Old Norse lagu, the plural of lag, meaning literally 'something laid down' or 'something fixed in place'. The image behind it is concrete: a law is a thing that has been set down and settled, much as you might lay a stone. It entered late Old English during the period of Scandinavian settlement, gradually replacing earlier native terms, and by the time of the Norman Conquest it was the standard word for a binding rule. The same 'lay down' idea links it to the verb 'lay' and to related Germanic words. Its spelling stayed mercifully simple, with no silent letters or doubled consonants, which is why it almost never trips up adult writers.

How the word is built

• law (single root from Old Norse lagu: something laid down or fixed)