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unlaw

English · Thesaurus

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unlaw¹

Where it comes from

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 unlaws

  1. obsolete, uncountable, usually A crime, an illegal action.

    Similar: malefaction, crime, criminal offence, criminality, delinquency, perpetration, unlaw, unlawfulness

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

    Similar: illegalness, unlawfulness, illegality, lawlessness, unlaw · Opposite: lawfulness, legality, legalness

  3. obsolete, uncountable, usually A fine exacted from a transgressor of the law.

unlaw²

Where it comes from

From un- (“reversal, undoing”) + law.

verb unlaws · unlawing · 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. obsolete, transitive To fine.

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MLA

"unlaw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/unlaw. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

unlaw. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/unlaw

Chicago

"unlaw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/unlaw.

BibTeX
@misc{unlaw_2026,
  title = {unlaw},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/unlaw},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}