natural law

See synonyms for natural law on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a principle or body of laws considered as derived from nature, right reason, or religion and as ethically binding in human society.

Origin of natural law

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use natural law in a sentence

  • From this stage of understanding it was but a short step to the modern view of natural law.

    Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
  • Another natural law is that the force required to move a body depends upon its size and weight.

  • One other natural law which affects the running of watches is this: Variations in temperature affect the elasticity of metals.

  • natural law in the Spiritual World” is a book written to show how the physical laws hold true in the region of spirit.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • Hideousness struggles under the natural law of elimination, which necessarily renders it hostile.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo

British Dictionary definitions for natural law

natural law

noun
  1. an ethical belief or system of beliefs supposed to be inherent in human nature and discoverable by reason rather than revelation

  2. a nonlogically necessary truth; law of nature: See also nomological (def. 2)

  1. the philosophical doctrine that the authority of the legal system or of certain laws derives from their justifiability by reason, and indeed that a legal system which cannot be so justified has no authority

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for natural law

natural law

The doctrine that human affairs should be governed by ethical principles that are part of the very nature of things and that can be understood by reason. The first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence contain a clear statement of the doctrine.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.