legislate

L1E1G2I1S1L1A1T1E1
/ˈlɛd͡ʒɪsˌleɪt/

verb

To pass laws (including the amending or repeal of existing laws).

“Candidates always promise to legislate change.”

Similar
lawmakepass
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

verblegislate (third-person singular simple present legislates, present participle legislating, simple past and past participle legislated)

present singular third person legislates · participle present legislating · participle past legislated · past legislated

  1. To pass laws (including the amending or repeal of existing laws).

    Candidates always promise to legislate change.

    1 more example

    If they can't get people to do the right thing by talking then they will try to legislate and enforce the statutes.

    Synonyms: lawmake

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo pass laws (including the amending or repeal of existing laws).

Similar
lawmake

More synonyms by meaning

verbmake laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation

Similar
pass
Broader
ordainenact
Also see
legiferatepass

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Back-formation from legislation, legislator.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek νομοθετέω
  • νομοθετέω (nomothetéō)pass laws
Arabic شَرَّعَ
  • شَرَّعَ (šarraʕa)pass laws
Bulgarian издавам закони
  • издавам закони (izdavam zakoni)pass laws
Catalan legislar
  • legislarpass laws
Chinese Mandarin 立法
  • 立法 (lìfǎ)pass laws
Danish lovgive
  • lovgivepass laws
Dutch wetten maken
  • wetten makenpass laws
Esperanto leĝdoni
  • leĝdonipass laws
Finnish säätää laki
  • säätää lakipass laws
French légiférer
  • légiférerpass laws
German Gesetze geben, Gesetze beschließen
  • Gesetze gebenpass laws
  • Gesetze beschließenpass laws
  • Gesetze verordnenpass laws
  • Gesetze erlassenpass laws
  • legiferierenpass laws
Greek νομοθετώ
  • νομοθετώ (nomothetó)pass laws
Hungarian törvényt hoz
  • törvényt hozpass laws
Irish reachtaigh, achtaigh
  • reachtaighpass laws
  • achtaighpass laws
Italian legiferare
  • legiferarepass laws
Japanese 制定する
  • 制定する (seitei suru)pass laws
Latin lēgem ferre
  • lēgem ferrepass laws
Persian قانونگذاری کردن
  • قانونگذاری کردن (qânun-gozâri kardan)pass laws
Portuguese legislar
  • legislarpass laws
Russian издава́ть зако́ны, законода́тельствовать
  • издава́ть зако́ны (izdavátʹ zakóny)pass laws
  • законода́тельствовать (zakonodátelʹstvovatʹ)pass laws
Spanish legislar
  • legislarpass laws
Swedish lagstifta
  • lagstiftapass laws
Vietnamese lập pháp
  • lập pháppass laws
Cite this entry
APA

legislate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legislate

MLA

“legislate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legislate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “legislate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legislate.

Source: legislate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.