Webster's English Dictionary

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law

Cross references:
  1. hagiographa            2. prophets               3. hypothesis            
  
1. law \'lo.\ n [ME, fr. OE lagu, of Scand origin; akin to ON lo:g law; 
   akin to OE] often attrib  licgan to lie - more at LIE 1a1: a binding custom 
   or practice of a community : a rule of conduct or a ction prescribed or 
   formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority 1a2: 
   the whole body of such customs, practices, or rules  1a3: COMMON LAW  1b1: 
   the control brought about by the existence or enforcement of such law  1b2: 
   the action of laws considered as a means of redressing wrongs; also  : 
   LITIGATION 1b3: the agency of or an agent of established law  1c: a rule or 
   order that it is advisable or obligatory to observe  1d: something 
   compatible with or enforceable by established law  1e: CONTROL, AUTHORITY  
   often cap  2a: the revelation of the will of God set forth in the Old 
   Testament  cap  2b: the first part of the Jewish scriptures : PENTATEUCH  
   3: a rule of construction or prodecure  4: the whole body of laws relating 
   to one subject  5a: the legal profession  5b: law as a department of 
   knowledge : JURISPRUDENCE  5c: legal knowledge  obs  6: MERCY, INDULGENCE  
   7a: a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is know 
   n is invariable under the given conditions 7b: a relation proved or assumed 
   to hold between mathematical or logical ex pressions 7c: the observed 
   regularity of nature M, ORDINANCE, CANON mean a principle governing action 
   or procedure. LAW implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the 
   obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority; RULE 
   applies to more restricted or specific situations, may include self-imposed 
   principles or action, and implies much less inexorability; REGULATION often 
   equals RULE but carries a stronger implication of prescription by authority 
   in order to control an organization or system; PRECEPT commonly suggests 
   something advisory and not obligatory communicated typically through 
   teaching; STATUTE implies a law enacted by a legislative body; ORDINANCE 
   applies to an order governing some detail of procedure or conduct enforced 
   by a limited authority such as a municipality; CANON suggests in 
   nonreligious use a principle or rule of behavior or procedure commonly 
   accepted as a valid guide SYN syn LAW, RULE, REGULATION, PRECEPT, STATUTE
2. law vb : to go to law  chiefly dial  : to sue or prosecute at law