Laws

How to spell laws

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce laws

What does laws mean?

1. nounRules established by a governing authority that regulate the conduct of a community.

Laws in a sentence

• The new laws on data privacy take effect next month.

• Several countries have strict laws against importing fresh produce.

Where does laws come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The singular law comes into English from the late Old English lagu, which was itself borrowed from Old Norse lagu, the plural of lag meaning 'something laid down or fixed'. That sense traces back to a root meaning 'to lay' or 'to place', so a law was literally a thing that had been set in place, much as we still speak of laying down the law today. The word displaced the native Old English word, and by the medieval period it covered both formal statutes and broader customs. The plural laws is simply the singular with the regular -s ending, and because the word is short and phonetically transparent it almost never gives writers trouble. Its close relative 'lay' shares the same underlying idea of putting something firmly in position.

How the word is built

• law (something laid down, a rule)
• -s (plural suffix)