Dictionary

unlawfulness en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English lawful Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English unlawfulness From un- + lawful + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The state of being unlawful.
   • They plead against the inconvenience, not the unlawfulness, […] of ceremonies in burial. [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
   • After all, Cave speaks about orders being so manifestly illegal that the person carrying them out must or ought to have been aware of their unlawfulness. From this alone, one can draw the conclusion that, if the executant of the order actually knows of its unlawfulness, he ought to be convicted, no matter whether the order is or, as in John Doe's case, is not manifestly illegal. 2012, Yoram Dinstein, The Defence of 'Obedience to Superior Orders' in International Law:
   • Near-synonyms: criminality, feloniousness, illicitness
2. (countable) An unlawful act.
   • Near-synonyms: offense; outrage

Forms

Antonyms

legalness · rule of law · lawfulness · law · lawfulness · legality · legality · legalness

Coordinates

illegitimacy

Synonyms

malefaction · unlaw · feloniousness · illegalness · criminal offence · illicitness · illegality · criminality · unlaw · unlawfulness · unlaw · offense · lawlessness · perpetration · unlaw · crime · illegality · illegalness · criminality · unlawfulness · outrage · lawlessness · delinquency

Translations (14)

ro ilegalitate (state of being unlawful) · de Gesetzwidrigkeit (state of being unlawful) · fi laittomuus (unlawful act) · fi laittomuus (state of being unlawful) · hi अवैधता (state of being unlawful) · pl nielegalność (state of being unlawful) · ro nelegiuire (unlawful act) · de Rechtswidrigkeit (state of being unlawful) · pl bezprawność (state of being unlawful) · de Gesetzwidrigkeit (unlawful act) · fi lainvastaisuus (state of being unlawful) · pl nieprawność (state of being unlawful) · pl bezprawie (unlawful act) · ro ilegalitate (unlawful act)