FromMiddle Englishlaweles; equivalent tolaw +-less. Cognate withDanishlovløs(“lawless”),Swedishlaglös(“lawless”),Norwegianlovløs(“lawless”),Icelandiclöglaus(“lawless”).
lawless (comparativemorelawless,superlativemostlawless)
- Notgoverned by anylaw.
- Prohibited by law;unlawful,illegal.
c.1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe],Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published1592,→OCLC; reprinted asTamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press,1973,→ISBN,Act II, scene ii:This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men,
That liue by rapine and bylawleſſe ſpoile,
Fit ſouldiers for the wickedTamburlaine.
1782,Euripides, “Iphegenia in Aulis”, inMichael Wodhull, transl.,The Nineteen Tragedies and Fragments of Euripides.[...] In Four Volumes, volume II, London: […] Thomas Payne and Son, […],→OCLC,page210:For ſure the Gods / Are not devoid of wiſdom, but perceive / What oaths arelawleſs and by force extorted.
- Notrestrained by the law or bydiscipline;disorderly,unruly.
not restrained by the law
Translations to be checked
