lawless

See also: Lawless

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːləs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːləs

Adjective

lawless (comparative more lawless, superlative most lawless)

1. Not governed by any law.
2. Prohibited by law; unlawful, illegal.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] 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.

3. Not restrained by the law or by discipline; disorderly, unruly.

Derived terms

• lawlessness

Translations

not governed by the law

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: lovløs
• Dutch: wetteloos (nl)
• Finnish: laiton (fi)
• German: rechtsfrei (de)
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (witōdalaus)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἄνομος (ánomos)

• Latin: illēx
• Maori: turekore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lovløs, lovlaus

  Nynorsk: lovlaus

• Spanish: ilegal (es)
• Swedish: laglös (sv)
• Welsh: anneddfol

prohibited

• Bulgarian: незаконен (bg) (nezakonen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: verboden (nl), illegaal (nl), onwettig (nl)
• Finnish: laiton (fi), lainvastainen (fi)
• Georgian: უკანონო (uḳanono), კანონგარეშე (ḳanongareše)
• German: gesetzwidrig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: παράνομος (paránomos)

• Maori: rāhui

not restrained by the law

• Bulgarian: необуздан (bg) (neobuzdan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: lovløs
• Dutch: wetteloos (nl)
• Finnish: laeista piittaamaton, laiton (fi)
• French: sans foi ni loi (fr), anarchique (fr)
• German: gesetzlos
• Maori: turekore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lovløs, lovlaus

  Nynorsk: lovlaus

• Swedish: laglös (sv)
• Welsh: anneddfol

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} aindleathach, ^{(please verify)} aindlíthiúil, ^{(please verify)} mídhleathach
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} exlex

Anagrams

• Wassell