legislation

American  

[lej-is-lay-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

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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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

legislation legislations

The country wants UBS to hold substantial new capital against its large foreign operations, an increase UBS estimates would cost around $16 billion under the legislation before Parliament.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The legislation paved the way for the creation of California’s nation-leading carbon market, cap-and-invest, which launched in 2013.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Australia said Thursday it refused to allow big tech to have "unfettered" access to its kids as it formally introduced new legislation that would give users choice over what they see on their feeds.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

This would need legislation to be brought forward, given that current laws do not cover the effect of a merger on streaming or on-demand programmes.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

In 1910, Washington became the first state to pass suffrage legislation in fourteen years.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

“I made up my mind because I must not interfere with parliamentary discussion of key legislations because of my problems,” Terada said.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 20, 2022

Rep. Pramila Jayapal still has the confidence of the various factions of her party, as well as the White House, to negotiate some passable legislations.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2022

“Our draft legislations means that these companies will be punished heavily if they don’t meet that standard,” she added.

From Reuters ● Oct. 25, 2021

Mr Edwards said: "Orr began to quote that the Health Regulations 2020 were only legislations and not law and that he only listened to common law."

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2021

This utility is the principle of all human virtues, and the foundation of all legislations.

From Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II. by John Morley

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Related Words

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

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