legislate

[ lej-is-leyt ]

/ ˈlɛdʒ ɪsˌleɪt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR legislate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

to exercise the function of legislation; make or enact laws.

verb (used with object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

to create, provide, or control by legislation: attempts to legislate morality.

Origin of legislate

First recorded in 1710–20; back formation from legislation, legislator

OTHER WORDS FROM legislate

o·ver·leg·is·late, verb, o·ver·leg·is·lat·ed, o·ver·leg·is·lat·ing. qua·si-leg·is·lat·ed, adjective un·leg·is·lat·ed, adjective

Words nearby legislate

legionella pneumophilia, legionnaire, legionnaire's disease, legionnaires' disease, legis., legislate, legislation, legislative, legislative assembly, legislative branch, legislative council

Example sentences from the Web for legislate

And it might not only be in Britain that politicians rush to legislate.

ISIS Has a Message. Do We? |Jamie Dettmer |December 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
No politician has the right to legislate for the awful things that can happen during pregnancy.

Tennessee Voters Face a Loaded Abortion Question |Eleanor Clift |October 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Are we in danger, in the rush to legislate, of ruining the moment?

Does California’s College Rape Bill Go Too Far In Regulating Sex? |Emma Woolf |June 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
These are excuses offered up by a party that is too divided to govern and legislate.

In Passover Phone Conversation, Eric Cantor Slams Obama |Eleanor Clift |April 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Now that all efforts to legislate gun control are stalled, it may be time for mental-health legislation to stand on its own.

The House’s GOP Psychologist May Finally Get a Mental-Health Bill Passed |Eleanor Clift |April 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They are discovering that they have been fighting a bugbear; also, that their legislation against the bugbear cannot legislate.

The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, Jan-Mar, 1890 |Various
There was a persistent tendency to legislate upon details, a tendency which could not be entirely kept down.

Robert Toombs |Pleasant A. Stovall
Accordingly, these ecclesiastical votaries of democracy cut a strange figure when they seek to legislate for the Church.

Outspoken Essays |William Ralph Inge
The Constitution gives no power to Congress to legislate on the subject, but imposes on the States the obligation of rendition.

William Jay and the Constitutional Movement for the Abolition of Slavery |Bayard Tuckerman
There is no reproach in the fact that we neither build, legislate, think, nor determine for the next generation.

Quodlibet |John P. Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for legislate

legislate

/ (ˈlɛdʒɪsˌleɪt) /

verb

(intr) to make or pass laws

(tr) to bring into effect by legislation

Word Origin for legislate

C18: back formation from legislator

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

legislate

verb (used without object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

verb (used with object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

Origin of legislate

OTHER WORDS FROM legislate

Words nearby legislate

Example sentences from the Web for legislate

British Dictionary definitions for legislate

verb

Word Origin for legislate

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

legislate

verb (used without object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

verb (used with object), leg·is·lat·ed, leg·is·lat·ing.

Origin of legislate

OTHER WORDS FROM legislate

Words nearby legislate

Words related to legislate

Example sentences from the Web for legislate

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verb

Word Origin for legislate

British Dictionary definitions for legislate