lex
noun
law.
lex
1 American
[leks]
/ lɛks /
noun
-
leges
plural
lex.
2
American
abbreviation
-
lexical.
-
lexicon.
lex
British
/ lɛks /
noun
-
a system or body of laws
-
a particular specified law
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lex
First recorded in 1490–1500, lex is from the Latin word lēx
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He told AFP Babis most probably complied with the Czech conflict of interest law, dubbed "lex Babis".
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
Russert may be right that this is the law, but in the immortal words of St. Augustine, lex iniusta non est lexas—”an unjust law is no law at all.”
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2021
But dura lex, sed lex — the law is hard, but it is the law — and the law in California forbade slavery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2021
Salus populi suprema lex, he reminds us: public health must be the highest law.
From Nature ● Oct. 14, 2019
A foedus is a league, or compact, but it is often used as synonymous with lex, and Renaissance commentators on Lucretius interpreted him as talking about the laws of nature.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
There is an old Latin phrase, inter arma enim silent leges, which roughly translates as "in time of war, the Constitution is silent."
From Time ● Jun. 23, 2011
There will be special rates for col leges, etc.
From Time Magazine Archive
Office of Education reported that enrollments in U.S. schools and col leges, both public and private, have gone up again for the eleventh straight year.
From Time Magazine Archive
Trained in their own staff col leges or U.S. military schools, the officers, especially the younger ones, feel that they can do a better job.
From Time Magazine Archive
The spirit of blind conservatism,—Nolumus leges Angliæ mutare,—which in this sphere had reasserted itself after the vital movement of Reform and Puritanism, still persists.
From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society by Havelock Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
