Phrase guide

criminal law

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The area of law pertaining to crime and punishment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A specific statute, ordinance, regulation, or other source of law that deems an action to be a crime.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: legal code

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: strafreg — area of law
  • Armenian: քրեական իրավունք (kʻreakan iravunkʻ) — area of law
  • Breton: gwir kastizel — area of law
  • Catalan: dret penal — area of law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 刑法 (xíngfǎ) — area of law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 刑事法 (xíngshìfǎ) — area of law
  • Czech: trestní právo — area of law
  • Danish: strafferet — area of law
  • Dutch: strafrecht — area of law
  • Finnish: rikosoikeus — area of law
  • French: droit pénal — area of law
  • French: droit criminel — area of law
  • Georgian: სისხლის სამართალი (sisxlis samartali) — area of law
  • German: Strafrecht — area of law
  • Hindi: अपराधिक कानून (aprādhik kānūn) — area of law
  • Hungarian: büntetőjog — area of law
  • Icelandic: hegningarlög — area of law
  • Icelandic: refsilög — area of law
  • Icelandic: refsiréttur — area of law
  • Indonesian: hukum pidana — area of law
  • Interlingua: derecto criminal — area of law
  • Italian: diritto penale — area of law
  • Japanese: 刑法 — area of law
  • Kazakh: қылмыстық құқық (qylmystyq qūqyq) — area of law
  • Korean: 형법 (hyeongbeop) — area of law
  • Lithuanian: baudžiamoji teisė — area of law
  • Malay: undang-undang jenayah — area of law
  • Norwegian Bokmål: strafferett — area of law
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: strafferett — area of law
  • Polish: prawo karne — area of law
  • Portuguese: direito penal — area of law
  • Portuguese: direito criminal — area of law
  • Punjabi: ਅਪਰਾਧਿਕ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ (aparādhik kānūnn) — area of law
  • Romanian: drept penal — area of law
  • Russian: уголо́вное пра́во (ugolóvnoje právo) — area of law
  • Spanish: derecho penal — area of law
  • Swedish: straffrätt — area of law
  • Vietnamese: luật hình sự — area of law
  • Welsh: cyfraith trosedd — area of law