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outlawry

[out-law-ree]
noun, plural out·law·ries.
  1. the act or process of outlawing.
  2. the state of being outlawed.
  3. disregard or defiance of the law: a man whose outlawry had made him a folk hero.
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Origin of outlawry

1350–1400; Middle English outlauerie < Anglo-French utlagerie, Medieval Latin utlagāria < Middle English outlage outlaw + Anglo-French -erie -ry, Medieval Latin -āria -ary
Related formsnon·out·law·ry, noun, plural non·out·law·ries.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for outlawry

Historical Examples

  • Outlawry, piracy, smugglery, were all goals too small for such operations.

    The Cruise of the Dry Dock

    T. S. Stribling

  • It was a Paradise where no writ had ever wandered, nor the word "outlawry" had ever been uttered.

  • He had reckoned from childhood on outlawry as his peculiar birthright.

  • He obtained the removal of his outlawry by presenting George II.

  • The king retaliated by placing the clergy of the kingdom in (p. 113) outlawry.

British Dictionary definitions for outlawry

outlawry

noun plural -ries
  1. the act of outlawing or the state of being outlawed
  2. disregard for the law
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for outlawry

n.

late 14c., from Anglo-French utlagerie, a hybrid from Old English utlaga (see outlaw (n.)) + -ary.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper