unlaw

unlaw

English

Etymology 1

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

Noun

unlaw (usually uncountable, plural unlaws)

1. (obsolete) a crime, an illegal action
2. Absence of law; lawlessness
   • 2012, Read I. Myers, The Great Canadian Oligarchy: Flaws in Our Freedoms:

     In regard to abortion we are now lawless. The law of the land is no law at all; that is, unlaw reigns.

3. (obsolete) A fine exacted from a transgressor of the law.

Etymology 2

From un- (“reversal, undoing”) +‎ law.

Verb

unlaw (third-person singular simple present unlaws, present participle unlawing, simple past and past participle unlawed)

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