Link Centre Dictionary

bylaw

by·law

UK/ˈbaɪ.lɔː/ US/ˈbaɪ.lɔ/ uncommon

noun

1.

a rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English bylawe, bilawe, partly from Old English bīlage (“bylaw”) and partly from a variant of Middle English byrelawe, birlawe, from Old Norse býjar (“town's; settlement's”) + lǫg (“laws; jurisdiction”). Byrlaw is attested earlier in English but is unattested in Old Norse and the cognates in Scandinavian languages follow the development of bylaw: Danish bylov (“municipal law”), Swedish bylag and byalag.

Phrases

  • bylaw officer

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.