legislation

American  

[lej-is-ley-shuhn] / ˌlɛdʒ ɪsˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

legislations plural

1. the act of making or enacting laws.

2. a law or a body of laws enacted.

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legislation British  

/ ˌlɛdʒɪsˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of making laws; enactment

2. the laws so made

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sublegislation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• legislations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of legislation

1645–55; < Late Latin lēgislātiōn- (stem of lēgislātiō ), equivalent to Latin phrase lēgis lātiō the bringing (i.e., proposing) of a law, equivalent to lēgis (genitive of lēx law) + lātiō a bringing; see relation

Explanation

Legislation is the act or process of making or enacting laws. Some people think there should be more legislation in the area of education and some people think there should be less — governments debate the matter periodically. The noun legislation refers to the actual law enacted by a legislative body at the national, state, or local level. There has been some very odd legislation over the years. In one state it was illegal to kiss on a train; in another, it was illegal to take a bath on Sunday. The sweeping legislation made radical changes to tax law, health care, and immigration law.

Related Words

• act
• bill
• charter
• constitution
• measure
• regulation
• ruling
• statute