lawman

See also: Lawman

English

Etymology

From Middle English laweman, laȝaman (as a man's name, Laȝamon, Layamon), from Old English lahmann, borrowed from Old Norse lǫgmaðr. In present use as a law-enforcement officer, law +‎ -man.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lômăn, lômən, IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːmæn/, /ˈlɔːmən/
• (US) enPR: lômăn, lômən, IPA^(key): /ˈlɔmæn/, /ˈlɔmən/
• Rhymes: -ɔːmən

Noun

lawman (plural lawmen)

1. (law, historical) A lawspeaker: a declarer of the law.

   Synonym: lawspeaker

2. (law, historical) One of 12 magistrates in certain Danish boroughs of England empowered with soc and sac over their own households.

   Synonyms: lageman, lagman

3. (law, Orkney and Shetland) The presiding justice of the supreme court.

   Synonyms: lawman-general, lagman

   • 1983, Paul Thompson, Tony Wailey, Trevor Lummis, History Workshop Series, Living the Fishing, Routledge & Kegan Paul:

     From the twelfth century Shetland had been administered directly by the Norwegian crown through the 'foud', rather than forming part of the patrimony of a great aristocratic estate. The foud appointed 'underfouds' and the Shetlands evolved their own elected officers, a 'lawman' and parish 'lawrightmen', who adjudicated and negotiated the collection of customary taxes and fines on behalf of the local population.

4. (rare) A man of the law: a lawyer.

   Synonyms: attorney, counsel; see also Thesaurus:lawyer

5. (sometimes informal) An officer of the law: a law-enforcement officer.

   Synonyms: bobby, cop; see also Thesaurus:police officer

   • 1979 June 25, Richard Schickel, “Show Business: Duke: Images from a Lifetime”, in TIME‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 May 2011:

     "Fill your hand, you sonuvabitch," the old lawman cries, clamping the reins of his horse between his teeth and filling his own hands with six-gun and repeater.

   • 2016, Dusty Richards, Deadly Is the Night, Pinnacle Books, →ISBN, retrieved 8 December 2021:

     The two lawmen punched his ticket with four well-aimed rifle shots.

   • 2021 (originally published 2017, adapted 2021), David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: Adapted for Younger Readers, pages 16-17:

     Lawmen were then still largely amateurs. They rarely attended training academies or learned the new scientific methods of detections, such as the analysis of fingerprints and blood patterns. Frontier lawmen, in particular, were primarily gunfighters and trackers. They were expected to stop crimes and to catch a known gunman alive if possible, dead if necessary.

Translations

a lawspeaker

• Frisian:

  Old Frisian: āsega m

• German:

  Old High German: ēwasago m

• Latin: lagemannus m
• Old Saxon: ēosago m

a medieval Dano-English magistrate

• Latin: lagemannus m

lawyer — see lawyer

an officer of the law

• French: homme de loi (fr) m
• Polish: stróż prawa (pl) m
• Russian: представи́тель зако́на m (predstavítelʹ zakóna), сотру́дник правоохрани́тельного о́ргана m (sotrúdnik pravooxranítelʹnovo órgana), суде́бный исполни́тель m (sudébnyj ispolnítelʹ) (sheriff, executor, officer of justice)

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From the same root as law but with the suffix -man.

Noun

lawman

1. crazy person