Where does “unlawful” come from?
Unlawful derives from English law combined with the suffix -ful, where law descends through Old English lagu from Proto-Germanic *lagu, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- meaning to fill or be full.
unlawful (English): Prohibited; not permitted by law
Definitions
- Prohibited; not permitted by law
Ancestry of “unlawful”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | lawful | Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of... |
| 2 | Middle English | laweful | Lawful; allowed by the law or legal system;... |
| 3 | Middle English | lawe | A law, regulation, or a group of them; Morality,... |
| 4 | Old English | lagu | sea, water, lake; the runic character ᛚ; law,... |
| 5 | Old Norse | lǫg | fate; situation, the condition that one is given... |
| 6 | Old Norse | lág | a felled tree; log; lying tree |
| 7 | Old Norse | leggja | to lay, place, put; to make, build |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | lagjaną | to lay, to place in a resting position |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | legʰ- | to lie |