Lawful

How to spell lawful

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce lawful

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does lawful mean?

1. adjectiveAllowed by or conforming to the law; legitimate.

Lawful in a sentence

• The protest was entirely peaceful and lawful.

• Drivers must keep within the lawful speed limit at all times.

Where does lawful come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The word lawful joins the noun 'law' with the native English suffix '-ful', meaning 'characterised by' or 'in keeping with'. The noun 'law' itself came into Old English as 'lagu', borrowed from Old Norse during the period of Scandinavian settlement; the Norse word literally meant 'something laid down or fixed', from a root meaning 'to lay'. So at its core a law is something that has been laid in place, and lawful describes anything that conforms to what has been laid down. The compound appears in English from around the thirteenth century, originally in the sense 'permitted by law' or 'rightful'. Because the '-ful' suffix takes only a single 'l' when attached, learners sometimes wrongly double it; the word is law plus a one-l '-ful', not 'lawfull'.

How the word is built

• law (rule, body of rules)
• -ful (adjective suffix: full of, characterised by)