Standard Lemma guide

unlaw

noun · verb · 6 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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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A crime, an illegal action.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

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

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Absence of law; lawlessness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: illegalness, unlawfulness, illegality, lawlessness, unlaw

Antonyms: lawfulness, legality, legalness

3

noun

Meaning 3

A fine exacted from a transgressor of the law.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To deprive of the authority or character of law.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To put beyond the protection of the law; to outlaw.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To fine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

Qualifier: Scots law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English unlawe, unlaȝ, unlage, from Old English unlagu (“violation of law, illegality, injustice, lawlessness”), equivalent to un- (“lack or absence of”) + law.

From un- (“reversal, undoing”) + law.