Dictionary

unlaw en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

From Middle English unlawe, unlaȝ, unlage, from Old English unlagu (“violation of law, illegality, injustice, lawlessness”), equivalent to un- (“lack or absence of”) + law.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) A crime, an illegal action.
2. (uncountable, usually) Absence of law; lawlessness.
   • In regard to abortion we are now lawless. The law of the land is no law at all; that is, unlaw reigns. 2012, Read I. Myers, The Great Canadian Oligarchy: Flaws in Our Freedoms:
3. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) A fine exacted from a transgressor of the law.

Forms

Antonyms

lawfulness · legality · lawfulness · legalness

Synonyms

criminality · unlawfulness · illegality · unlawfulness · unlaw · crime · illegalness · malefaction · unlaw · delinquency · illegalness · criminal offence · perpetration · lawlessness · unlawfulness · malefaction

unlaw en · VERB · etymology 2

Etymology

From un- (“reversal, undoing”) + law.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To deprive of the authority or character of law.
2. (transitive) To put beyond the protection of the law; to outlaw.
3. (obsolete, qualifier:Scots law, transitive) To fine.

Forms