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Showing results for positive law. Search instead for positive fact.

positive law

American  

noun

  1. customary law or law enacted by governmental authority (as distinguished fromnatural law ).


Etymology

Origin of positive law

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

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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.

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"Natural" means without the enforcement of positive law, man-made law.

From New York Times Jan. 12, 2015

“Freedom Riders” implicitly and ably conveys the powerlessness of positive law in the face of a toxic cultural emotionalism.

From New York Times May 15, 2011

If valid, they place all persons within their reach under the obligation of positive law, binding equally those who assent and those who do not assent.

From Time Magazine Archive

He said: The Thirteenth Amendment, it is conceded, did something more than to prohibit slavery as an institution resting upon distinctions of race and upheld by positive law.

From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by White, Horace

Distinction between natural duties and those resting on positive law, 93.

From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole

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