different between law vs element

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lô, IPA^(key): /l??/
  • Rhymes: -??
• (US) enPR: lô, IPA^(key): /l?/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: lä, IPA^(key): /l?/
• Homophone: la (in accents with the cot-caught merger)
• Homophone: lore (in non-rhotic accents with the horse-hoarse merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English lawe, la?e, from Old English lagu (“law”), from Old Norse l?g (“law”, literally “things laid down or fixed”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lag? (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg?- (“to lie”). Cognate with Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”). Replaced Old English ? and ?esetnes. More at lay. Unrelated to French loi nor Spanish ley, since they both derive from *le?- (“to gather”).

Noun

law (countable and uncountable, plural laws)

1. The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
   1. The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.

   2. Common law, as contrasted with equity.
2. A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
3. (more generally) A rule, such as:
   1. Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. (Compare mores.)

   2. A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
   3. A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. (Compare theory.)
      • 1992 March 2, Richard Preston, The New Yorker, "The Mountains of Pi":

        Observing pi is easier than studying physical phenomena, because you can prove things in mathematics, whereas you can’t prove anything in physics. And, unfortunately, the laws of physics change once every generation.

   4. (mathematics, logic) A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.

   5. Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.

   6. (cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
4. The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.

5. (informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).

6. The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).

7. Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.

8. Litigation, legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).

9. (now uncommon) An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
10. (fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
11. (law, chiefly historical) An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. (Chiefly in the phrases "wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

law (third-person singular simple present laws, present participle lawing, simple past and past participle lawed)

1. (obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
2. (transitive, intransitive, chiefly dialectal) To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
   • 1860, George Eliot (Mary Anne Lewes), The Mill on the Floss:

     Your husband's [...] so given to lawing, they say. I doubt he'll leave you poorly off when he dies.
3. (nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; govern.
4. (informal) To enforce the law.
5. To subject to legal restrictions.

See also

• Appendix:Legal terms
• Appendix:Glossary of legal terms
• Category:Law
• lawe

Etymology 2

From Middle English lawe, from Old English hl?w (“burial mound”). Also spelled low.

Noun

law (plural laws)

1. (obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
2. (Scotland and Northern England, archaic) A hill.

Etymology 3

Compare la.

Interjection

law

1. (dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.

References

Etymology in ODS

Anagrams

• AWL, WAL, WLA, Wal., awl, lwa

Khumi Chin

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *khlaa, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-la. Cognates include Tibetan ???? (zla ba) and Burmese ? (la.).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??/

Noun

law

1. moon
2. month

References

• R. Shafer (1944) , “Khimi Grammar and Vocabulary”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, volume 11, issue 2, page 422
• K. E. Herr (2011) The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin?^[1], Payap University, page 42

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *l?v?, from Proto-Indo-European *lewo-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /law/

Noun

law m (diminutive lawk, feminine equivalent lawowka)

1. lion (Panthera leo)

Declension

Derived terms

• lawica
• lawik
• lawowy

Further reading

• law in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• law in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

Middle English

Noun

law

1. Alternative form of lawe

Scots

Noun

law (plural laws)

1. law
2. rounded hill (usually conical, frequently isolated or conspicuous)

Sranan Tongo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lau?/

Verb

law

1. To be crazy
2. To drive somebody crazy

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *l?v?, from Proto-Indo-European *lewo-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lau?/

Noun

law m

1. lion (Panthera leo)

Declension

Derived terms

• lawica, lawjace/-a/-y, lawowe/-a/-y

Welsh

Noun

law

1. Soft mutation of glaw (“rain”).

Mutation

Noun

law

1. Soft mutation of llaw (“hand”).

Mutation

English

Etymology

From Middle English element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”) (see further etymology there).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?l'?m?nt, IPA^(key): /??l?m?nt/
• Hyphenation: el?e?ment

Noun

element (plural elements)

1. One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides

     The simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn.

   1. (chemistry) Any one of the simplest chemical substances that cannot be decomposed in a chemical reaction or by any chemical means and made up of atoms all having the same number of protons.
   2. One of the four basic building blocks of matter in theories of ancient philosophers and alchemists: water, earth, fire, and air.
   3. (law) A required aspect or component of a cause of action. A deed is regarded as a violation of law only if each element can be proved.
   4. (set theory) One of the objects in a set.
   5. Any of the teeth of a zip fastener.
2. A small part of the whole.
3. (obsolete) The sky.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 69:

     Sometimes, solitude is of all things my wish; and the awful silence of the night, the spangled element, and the rising and setting sun, how promotive of contemplation!

4. (plural only, with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.

5. A place or state of being that an individual or object is best suited to.

6. (Christianity, usually in the plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.
7. A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.

8. A component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having a high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it.

10. (computing) One of the conceptual objects in a markup language, usually represented in text by tags.

Synonyms

• (in chemistry): chemical element, firststuff (rare, nonstandard)
• (in set theory): member

Hyponyms

• chemical element
• data element
• heating element

Derived terms

• single-element

Related terms

• elemental
• elementary

Translations

See also

• atom

Verb

element (third-person singular simple present elements, present participle elementing, simple past and past participle elemented)

1. (obsolete) To compound of elements.
   • 1633, John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

     those things which elemented [love]

   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist:

     elemented bodies

   • 1681, Maunyngham, Disc., page 89:

     thou art elemented and organed

2. (obsolete) To constitute and be the elements of.
   • 1658, Izaak Walton, Life of Donne:

     His very soul was elemented of nothing but sadness.

Related terms

• transelement

Further reading

• element in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• element in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

• Lehmann, R.G. (2011). "27-30-22-26 - How many letters needs an alphabet?". In de Voogt, A.; Quack, J.F. The Idea of Writing: Writing Across Borders. Brill. pp. 15–16, note 8.

Anagrams

• leetmen

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?.l??ment/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?.l??men/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /e.le?ment/

Noun

element m (plural elements)

1. element (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• elemental
• element químic

Further reading

• “element” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “element” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “element” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “element” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From Latin elementum

Noun

element

1. element.

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Danish

Noun

element n (singular definite elementet, plural indefinite elementer)

1. (set theory) element

Declension

References

• “element” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”), of uncertain origin (see further etymology there).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?.l??m?nt/
• Hyphenation: ele?ment
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

element n (plural elementen, diminutive elementje n)

1. element
2. (chemistry) element
3. (set theory) element

Derived terms

• elementair

Descendants

• ? Indonesian: elemen

Anagrams

• leemten

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin elementum

Noun

element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element or elementer, definite plural elementa or elementene)

1. an element

References

• “element” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin elementum

Noun

element n (definite singular elementet, indefinite plural element, definite plural elementa)

1. an element

References

• “element” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From Latin elementum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l?.m?nt/

Noun

element m inan

1. element (component, piece of a larger whole)
2. (derogatory) element (group of people)

Declension

Further reading

• element in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• element in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

From French élément, from Latin elementum.

Noun

element n (plural elemente)

1. element

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• (Bosnian, Serbian): elèmenat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el?ment/
• Hyphenation: e?le?ment

Noun

elèment m (Cyrillic spelling ???????)

1. element

Declension

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

element n

1. element; basic building block of matter in ancient philosophy
2. element; a place or state of being that an individual or object is better suited towards
3. elements; forces of weather
4. element; an object in a set
5. (mathematics) element of a matrix
6. heating element, radiator
7. (computing) element; object in markup language

Declension

Related terms

• elementär
• elementa
• elementar-

Turkish

Etymology

From German Element.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?.le.?ment]
• Hyphenation: e?le?ment

Noun

element (definite accusative elementi, plural elementler)

1. (chemistry) element

Declension