bylaw

Meaning

Noun

• A local custom or law of a settlement or district.
• A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.
• A law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization (e.g., corporation or business).

Origin

• From Middle English bylawe, bilawe, partly from Old English bīlage and partly from a variant of Middle English byrelawe, birlawe, from Old Norse byjar ("town's; settlement's") + log. 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.