Unlawful

How to spell unlawful

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unlawful

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unlawful mean?

1. adjectiveNot allowed by law; illegal or against the rules of a legal system.

Unlawful in a sentence

• The council ruled that parking on the verge was unlawful and issued fines.

• Selling the medication without a licence is unlawful in most countries.

Where does unlawful come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is a native English compound, built from elements that all reach back to Old English and Old Norse roots. The core noun 'law' descends from the Old English 'lagu', itself borrowed from the Old Norse 'lag', which literally meant something 'laid down' or fixed in place, from a verb meaning 'to lay'. To this English speakers attached the negative prefix 'un-', meaning 'not', and the suffix '-ful', which here carries its older sense of 'having the quality of' rather than 'filled with'. The combined word appears in Middle English around the 1300s, meaning 'contrary to law' or 'not permitted by law'. Because every piece is plain English, the spelling holds no surprises beyond remembering that it keeps a single 'l' in '-ful', unlike the standalone adjective 'full'.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• law (rule/legal)
• -ful (full of, having the quality of)