statute

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A law enacted by a legislature.
• noun A decree or edict, as of a ruler.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To ordain; enact; decree or establish.
• noun A compilation of all statutes enacted by a legislature during a session or a series of sessions. The United States Statutes at Large run consecutively from March 4, 1789. Session laws, pamphlet laws, public laws, and general public laws are other names for statutes at large.
• noun An ordinance or law; specifically, a law promulgated in writing by a legislative body; an enactment by a legislature; in the United States, an act of Congress or of a State or Territorial legislature passed and promulgated according to constitutional requirements; in Great Britain, an act of Parliament made by the Sovereign by and with the advice of the Lords and Commons.
• noun The act of a corporation or of its founder, intended as a permanent rule or law: as, the statutes of a university.
• noun In foreign and civil law, any particular municipal law or usage, though not resting for its authority on judicial decisions or the practice of nations.
• noun A statute-fair.
• noun Same as special statute.
• noun An English statute of 1571 (13 Eliz., c. 5), reënacted in nearly all of the United States, which declares all conveyances of property with intent to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors to be void as against such creditors.
• noun An English statute of 1585 (27 Eliz., c. 4) making void all conveyances of land made with intent to deceive purchasers.
• noun An English statute or ordinance of 1283 (11 Edw. I.) for the collection of debts.
• noun Another of 1285 (13 Edw. I.) for the same purpose.
• noun Synonyms Enactment, Ordinance, etc. See law.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun An act of the legislature of a state or country, declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law; the written will of the legislature expressed with all the requisite forms of legislation; -- used in distinction from common law. See Common law, under common, a.
• noun An act of a corporation or of its founder, intended as a permanent rule or law.
• noun engraving An assemblage of farming servants (held possibly by statute) for the purpose of being hired; -- called also statute fair.
• noun a record of laws or legislative acts.
• noun [Obs.] a kind of woolen cap; -- so called because enjoined to be worn by a statute, dated in 1571, in behalf of the trade of cappers.
• noun See Statute, n., 3, above.
• noun a definite amount of labor required for the public service in making roads, bridges, etc., as in certain English colonies.
• noun (Eng. Law) a bond of record pursuant to the stat. 13 Edw. I., acknowledged in form prescribed, on which, if not paid at the day, an execution might be awarded against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor, and the obligee might hold the lands until out of the rents and profits of them the debt was satisfied; -- called also a pocket judgment. It is now fallen into disuse.
• noun See under Mile.
• noun (Law) a statute assigning a certain time, after which rights can not be enforced by action.
• noun a bond of record acknowledged before the mayor of the staple, by virtue of which the creditor may, on nonpayment, forthwith have execution against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor, as in the statute merchant. It is now disused.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Written law, as laid down by the legislature.
• noun law (Common law) Legislated rule of society which has been given the force of law by those it governs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an act passed by a legislative body
• adjective enacted by a legislative body