Phrase guide

letter of the law

noun · 1 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 strict interpretation of the law or rules, especially when it involves overliteral interpretation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: singular, singular-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 法律的字面意義 /法律的字面意义 (fǎlǜ de zìmiàn yìyì) — strict interpretation of the law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 法律條文 /法律条文 (fǎlǜ tiáowén) — strict interpretation of the law
  • Esperanto: litero de leĝo — strict interpretation of the law
  • Finnish: lain kirjain — strict interpretation of the law
  • German: Buchstaben des Gesetzes — strict interpretation of the law
  • Mon: နကဵုလိက်ပ္ဍဲနှောဝ်ဥပဒေဂှ် — strict interpretation of the law
  • Polish: litera prawa — strict interpretation of the law