law [OE] Law is an Old English word from a common Germanic heritage with the basic sense of ‘that which is laid down’ and related to lay and lie. It is unrelated to Latin lex, leg- ‘law’ which seems to go back to legere ‘gather, glean, read’, which has been borrowed, via French, for the words legacy [LME], legal [LME], legitimate [LME], and loyal [E16th] (although closely related leal, now mainly found in Scotland, is Middle English). The phrase law and order is found from the late 16th century. It was Charles Dickens who first said the law is an ass, or rather his character Mr Bumble did in Oliver Twist: ‘“If the law supposes that,” said Mr Bumble…“the law is a ass…a idiot.”’ See also jungle.