law
the collection of rules imposed by authority
How often you will meet it
Rank 697 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 27,067 times across 175,160 chapters — 0.013% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- the collection of rules imposed by authority also: jurisprudence civilization presupposes respect for the lawthe great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
- legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity there is a law against kidnapping
- a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society also: natural law
- a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature also: law of nature the laws of thermodynamics
- the branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do also: jurisprudence, legal philosophy
- the learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system also: practice of law he studied law at Yale
law in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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It is an ancient principle of law that the buyer must beware.
The High School Boys' Canoe Club · H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock · Chapter 1
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A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures · Daniel Defoe · Chapter 1
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He destroyed many of his magic powders and tools of magic, and afterward honestly obeyed the law.
The Magic of Oz · L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum · Chapter 1
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Successful in all his examinations and disputations, he received the degree of Doctor of Law at Nuremberg in 1676.
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems Part 6 From — Volume I · John Greenleaf Whittier · Chapter 1
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Should he become insane after its commission the law steps in and protects him during the period of his insanity.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1