COMMON LAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does common law mean? 

• COMMON LAW (noun)
  The noun COMMON LAW has 2 senses:

1. (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions

2. a system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws

  Familiarity information: COMMON LAW used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMMON LAW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

case law; common law; precedent

Hypernyms ("common law" is a kind of...):

civil law (the body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation)

Domain category:

civil law (the body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation)

Domain member category:

service ((law) the acts performed by an English feudal tenant for the benefit of his lord which formed the consideration for the property granted to him)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

case law; common law; precedent

Context example:

common law originated in the unwritten laws of England and was later applied in the United States

Hypernyms ("common law" is a kind of...):

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

 Context examples 

Classify common law marriage as married.

(Married, NCI Thesaurus)

She was clay, after all, mere clay, subject to the common law of clay as his clay was subject, or anybody's clay.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)