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

Australia has set out to make its legislation tighter to stop this.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

While UBS and the government publicly sparred over the legislation in recent months, UBS received approaches from potential U.S. partners about possible deals, some of the people said.

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

Wells dismissed those fears on Thursday and said a previous clause in the draft legislation that would have granted ministerial powers to define harmful content had been removed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

One was that it was too late to introduce legislation for the 2008 session.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Ms Khalaf said the sentence handed to Tiba's father was "unfair", and that she saw such cases as evidence of "provisions and legislations that violate women's rights".

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2023

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

I think it discredits those who pass these legislations, those who adopt them and those who implement them more than anything else.

From US News ● Dec. 21, 2015

Woods Cross Republican Sen. Todd Weiler said the daughter of the late actor Peter Falk asked if he would sponsor visitation legislations as part of her push for similar laws around the country.

From Washington Times ● May 31, 2015

If I call them separately, it is in accordance with the thought inspiring two works, two legislations, two religions, on which they want to found the Catholic Religion.

From The Story of the Philippines and Our New Possessions, Including the Ladrones, Hawaii, Cuba and Porto Rico The Eldorado of the Orient by Murat Halstead

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Related Words

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

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