legislation

From Late Latin lēgislātiō (“the giving of the law”). Morphologically legislate +‎ -ion.

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌlɛd͡ʒɪˈsleɪʃən/, /ˌlɛd͡ʒəˈsleɪʃən/, [ˌlɛd͡ʒˈsleɪʃən]

  • Audio (Southern England):

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  • Audio (Southern California):

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• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌled͡ʒɪˈslæɪʃən/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌled͡ʒəˈslæɪʃən/
• Hyphenation: le‧gis‧la‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

legislation (usually uncountable, plural legislations)

1. The act of legislating; preparation and enactment of laws.

   Synonym: lawmaking

   pass legislation

   There is a lack of legislation about human cloning.

2. A law which has been enacted by legislature or other governing body.
   • 2003, Ruben E. Agpalo, Statutory Construction, page 467:

     The general rule is that constitutional provisions are self-executing, except when the provisions themselves expressly require legislations to implement them […]

   • 2024 September 23, Soumya Karlamangla, “California Bans All Plastic Bags After Its First Effort Backfired”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Sunday banning the sale at grocery checkouts of all plastic bags, regardless of thickness.

• (enacted laws): rooster (obsolete slang; legislation solely intended to benefit the legislators)

• Agostinelli