Lex
/lɛks/noun
A law, statute, or formal legal rule.
Did you know?*Lex* became one of the most potent words in Roman political life, and its legacy survives in modern terms like *legal*, *legislate*, and *legion*—all orbiting the ancient idea of binding order.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“to gather, collect, choose”
Latin
Latin
lex, legis
“a law, statute, formal rule”
Late Latin
Latin
lex
“law in juridical and ecclesiastical usage”
Old French
Old French
lei / ley
“law”
Middle English
English
lawe
“law, legal custom”
Modern English
English
lex
“a law; used especially in legal or scholarly Latin phrases”