Word.ws English Dictionary

bylaw

/ˈbaɪ.lɔː/US/ˈbaɪ.lɔ/

bylaw noun: a local custom or law of a settlement or district.

Noun

bylaw (plural bylaws)

  1. A local custom or law of a settlement or district.
  2. (in plural, often) A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.
    Synonyms:
    ordinance
    1. (countable, in plural, often, singular) A numbered provision within such kind of legislation.
  3. A law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization (e.g., corporation or business).

bylaw meaning in Tagalog, Malay, Indonesian and Persian

bylaw in Tagalog

local custom or law
patakarambatas

bylaw in Malay

rule made by a local authority
undang-undang kecil

bylaw in Indonesian

law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization
anggaran rumah tangga

bylaw in Persian

law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization
آییننامه âyin-nâme

Synonyms of bylaw

Forms of bylaw

pluralbylaws
alternative formby-law
alternative UKbyelaw
alternative UKbye-law
alternative form (obsolete)byrlaw
alternative form (obsolete)birley
alternative form (obsolete)birlie
alternative form (obsolete)birlaw
alternative form (obsolete)burlaw
alternative form (obsolete)bourlaw

Plural of bylaw: bylaws

Origin of bylaw

From Middle English bylawe, bilawe, partly from Old English bīlage (“bylaw”) and partly from a variant of Middle English byrelawe, birlawe, from Old Norse býjar (“town's; settlement's”) + lǫg (“laws; jurisdiction”). Byrlaw is attested earlier in English but is unattested in Old Norse and the cognates in Scandinavian languages follow the development of bylaw: Danish bylov (“municipal law”), Swedish bylag and byalag.

Phrases with bylaw

Questions about bylaw

What does bylaw mean?
Bylaw means a local custom or law of a settlement or district.
What is bylaw in Tagalog?
Bylaw in Tagalog is patakarambatas. See Bylaw meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is bylaw?
Bylaw is a noun.
How do you pronounce bylaw?
Bylaw is pronounced /ˈbaɪ.lɔː/ (UK).
What is the plural of bylaw?
The plural of bylaw is bylaws.

Words near bylaw in the dictionary

  1. bylander
  2. bylanders
  3. bylands
  4. bylane
  5. bylanes
  6. bylaw
  7. bylaw officer
  8. bylaw officers
  9. bylaws
  10. bylde
  11. bylee

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bylaw (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bylaw.wav.

Cite this entry: “bylaw.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bylaw. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.