law of the jungle
English
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law of the jungle
Where it comes from
Popularized by Rudyard Kipling in his book, The Jungle Book (1894), in which he used the term in the literal sense of a legal code governing the behavior of his anthropomorphized animals in an Indian jungle. Note also the (possibly derived) colloquial sense of jungle (“a place where people behave ruthlessly, unconstrained by law or morality”).
noun
- A putative law dictating that one serves one's own interest to the extent that one can, in any situation where legal authority is absent or generally ignored; self-interested behaviour that emerges in the absence of law; lawlessness. 1938, Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of Teachers of International Law and Related Subjects, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, page 111, In the next war there will be no international law or 'comity of nations' but merely the law of the jungle, and of primeval man—each for himself and
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see law, jungle. The Law of the Jungle — which is by far the oldest law in the world — has arranged for almost every kind of accident that may befall the Jungle People, till now its code is as perfect as time and custom can make it.
Translations
Every language
noun putative law of a lawless situation
| Español | ley de la selva |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 약육강식 yagyukgangsik |
| 日本語 | 弱肉強食 jakuniku kyōshoku |
| 中文 | 叢林法則 /丛林法则 cónglín fǎzé, 弱肉強食 /弱肉强食 ruòròuqiángshí |
| Português | lei da selva |
| Français | loi de la jungle, loi du plus fort |
| Deutsch | Faustrecht |
| Italiano | legge della giungla |
| Română | legea junglei |
| Русский | зако́н джу́нглей zakón džúnglej |
| العربية | شريعَة الغاب, قانون الغابَة |
Talk about this word "law of the jungle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/law%20of%20the%20jungle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. law of the jungle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/law%20of%20the%20jungle "law of the jungle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/law%20of%20the%20jungle.Cite this
@misc{law_of_the_jungle_2026,
title = {law of the jungle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/law%20of%20the%20jungle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
