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law and order

1. The orderly arrangement of society in which people follow laws and are not disruptive: a breakdown of law and order.

2. The strict enforcement of laws, especially by police action: argued that we should balance law and order with a willingness to listen to people's grievances.

law-and-order adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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