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lawless. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lawless, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lawless in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
lawless you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English laweles; equivalent to law + -less. Cognate with Danish lovløs (“lawless”), Swedish laglös (“lawless”), Norwegian lovløs (“lawless”), Icelandic löglaus (“lawless”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
lawless (comparative more lawless, superlative most lawless)
- Not governed by any law.
- Prohibited by law; unlawful, illegal.
c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men,
That liue by rapine and by lawleſſe ſpoile,
Fit ſouldiers for the wicked Tamburlaine.
1782, Euripides, “Iphegenia in Aulis”, in Michael Wodhull, transl., The Nineteen Tragedies and Fragments of Euripides. In Four Volumes, volume II, London: Thomas Payne and Son, , →OCLC, page 210:For ſure the Gods / Are not devoid of wiſdom, but perceive / What oaths are lawleſs and by force extorted.
- Not restrained by the law or by discipline; disorderly, unruly.
Derived terms
Translations
not restrained by the law
Translations to be checked
Anagrams