(outˈlôˌ)
nouna. A fugitive from the law.
b. A habitual criminal.
c. A rebel; a nonconformist: a social outlaw.
- A person excluded from normal legal protection and rights.
- A wild or vicious horse or other animal.
transitive verb out·lawed,
out·law·ing,
out·laws - To declare illegal: outlawed the sale of firearms.
- To place under a ban; prohibit: outlawed smoking in the house.
- To deprive (one declared to be a criminal fugitive) of the protection of the law.
Related Forms:
Word History: The word
outlaw brings to mind the cattle rustlers and gunslingers of the Wild West, but it comes to us from a much earlier time, when guns were not yet invented but cattle stealing was.
Outlaw can be traced back to the Old Norse word
ūtlagr, “outlawed, banished,” made up of
ūt, “out,” and
lög, “law.” An
ūtlagi (derived from
ūtlagr) was someone outside the protection of the law. The Scandinavians, who invaded and settled in England during the 8th through the 11th century, gave us the Old English word
ūtlaga, which designated someone who because of criminal acts had to give up his property to the crown and could be killed without recrimination. The legal status of the outlaw became less severe over the course of the Middle Ages. However, the looser use of the word to designate criminals in general, which arose in Middle English, lives on in tales of the Wild West.
