common law

noun

Law developed by judges, courts, and agency adjudicatory tribunals, through their decisions and opinions (also called case law) (as opposed to statutes promulgated by legislatures, and regulations promulgated by the executive branch).

Similar
case lawdecisional lawjudge-made lawjus communeprecedential lawprecedent
OriginMiddle English comun lawe →
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Meanings

nouncommon law (uncountable)

alternative attributive common-law

  1. uncountablelawLaw developed by judges, courts, and agency adjudicatory tribunals, through their decisions and opinions (also called case law) (as opposed to statutes promulgated by legislatures, and regulations promulgated by the executive branch).
  2. uncountablelawLegal system mainly in England and its former colonies with a heavy emphasis on judge-made law, doctrines deduced by casuistry rather than from general principles, and law distributed among judicial decisions rather than codified statutes (as opposed to civil law).
  3. historicaluncountablelawBody of law and procedure administered in certain courts (known as law courts) in England and its former colonies characterized by a rigid system of writs, with a limited set of remedies (as opposed to equity or admiralty).
  4. uncountableScots law; Roman-Dutch law; Scots law; Roman-Dutch lawlawLaw of general application throughout a country, province, or state as opposed to law having only a special or local application

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
case lawdecisional lawjudge-made lawjus communeprecedential law

noun(civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions

Similar
case lawprecedent
Broader
civil law

nouna system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws

Similar
case lawprecedent
Broader
lawjurisprudence
Also see
case lawdecisional lawjudge-made lawjus communeprecedentprecedential law

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishcomun lawe
  2. Englishcommon law

Inherited from Middle English comun lawe, comune lawe (“general law, common law”), from comun (“shared, universal”) + lawe (“law”), referring to the law's uniform nature throughout a jurisdiction. Compare Medieval Latin lex commūne, iūs commūne and Anglo-Norman commune lei.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans gemene reg
  • gemene reglaw of general application
Chinese Mandarin 普通法, 普通法
  • 普通法 (pǔtōngfǎ)legal system of England and its former colonies
  • 普通法 (pǔtōngfǎ)law of general application
Estonian üldine õigus
  • üldine õiguslaw of general application
Finnish common law, tapaoikeus
  • common lawlegal system of England and its former colonies
  • tapaoikeuslegal system of England and its former colonies
  • tapaoikeuslaw of general application
French common law, droit commun
  • common lawlegal system of England and its former colonies
  • droit communlaw of general application
German common law
  • common lawlegal system of England and its former colonies
Hungarian szokásjog, angolszász jogrendszer
  • szokásjoglegal system of England and its former colonies
  • angolszász jogrendszerlegal system of England and its former colonies
Indonesian hukum umum
  • hukum umumlaw of general application
Italian diritto comune
  • diritto comunelaw of general application
Japanese 慣習法
  • 慣習法 (kanshūhō)law of general application
Latin ius commune
  • ius communelaw of general application
Norwegian common law
  • common lawlegal system of England and its former colonies
Polish prawo precedensowe, prawo powszechne
  • prawo precedensowelegal system of England and its former colonies
  • prawo powszechnelaw of general application
Portuguese common law
  • common lawlegal system of England and its former colonies
Romanian drept comun
  • drept comunlaw of general application
Russian о́бщее пра́во
  • о́бщее пра́во (óbščeje právo)law of general application
Swedish anglosaxisk rätt, angloamerikansk rätt
  • anglosaxisk rättlegal system of England and its former colonies
  • angloamerikansk rättlegal system of England and its former colonies
Thai คอมมอนลอว์
  • คอมมอนลอว์ (kɔm-mɔ̂n-lɔɔ)law of general application
Vietnamese thông luật
  • thông luậtlegal system of England and its former colonies
Cite this entry
APA

common law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20law

MLA

“common law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20law. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “common law,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20law.

Source: common law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.