ab law

law 

Main Entry: law
Pronunciation: 'lo
Function: noun
Etymology: Old English lagu, of Scandinavian origin
1 : a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority: as a : a command or provision enacted by a legislature —see also STATUTE 1 b : something (as a judicial decision) authoritatively accorded binding or controlling effect in the administration of justice law of this circuit>
2 a : a body of laws law of a state>; broadly : laws and justice considered as a general and established entity law looks with disfavor on restraints on alienation> b : COMMON LAW —compare EQUITY 2
3 a : the control or authority of the law law and order> b : one or more agents or agencies involved in enforcing laws c : the application of a law or laws as distinct from considerations of fact law> —see also issue of law at ISSUE matter of law at MATTER question of law at QUESTION 2
4 : the whole body of laws and doctrines relating to one subject law> law of attractive nuisance>
5 a : the legal profession law> b : the nature, use, and effects of laws and legal systems as an area of knowledge or society law> —compare JURISPRUDENCE—at law : under or within the provisions of the law esp. as opposed to equity at law>

Main Entry: law
Pronunciation: 'lo
Function: noun
: a statement of order or relation holding for certain phenomena that so far as is known is invariableunder the given conditions

law (lô)
n.

1. A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.

2. A set of rules or principles for a specific area of a legal system.

3. A piece of enacted legislation.

4. A formulation describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met.

5. A generalization based on consistent experience or results.

law   (lô)  Pronunciation Key  A statement that describes invariable relationships among phenomena under a specified set of conditions. Boyle's law, for instance, describes what will happen to the volume of an ideal gas if its pressure changes and its temperature remains the same. The conditions under which some physical laws hold are idealized (for example, there are no ideal gases in the real world), thus some physical laws apply universally but only approximately. See Note at hypothesis.