law (redirected from lawful)

law (law) a uniform or constant fact or principle.

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Allen's paradoxic law  the more sugar a normal person is given the more is utilized; the reverse is true in diabetics.

all-or-none law  see all or none.

Beer's law , Beer-Lambert law in spectrophotometry, the absorbance of a solution is proportional to the concentration of the absorbing solute and to the path length of the light beam through the solution.

Boyle's law  at a constant temperature the volume of a perfect gas varies inversely as the pressure, and the pressure varies inversely as the volume.

Charles' law  at a constant pressure the volume of a given mass of a perfect gas varies directly with the absolute temperature.

law of conservation of energy  in any given system the amount of energy is constant; energy is neither created nor destroyed, but only transformed from one form to another.

law of conservation of mass , law of conservation of matter mass (or matter) can be neither created nor destroyed; this law can be violated on the microscopic level.

Dalton's law  the pressure exerted by a mixture of nonreacting gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the separate components; it holds true only at very low pressures.

Hellin's law , Hellin-Zeleny law one in about 89 pregnancies ends in the birth of twins; one in 89 × 89 (7921), of triplets; one in 89 × 89 × 89 (704,969), of quadruplets.

Henry's law  the solubility of a gas in a liquid solution at a constant temperature is proportional to the partial pressure of the gas above the solution.

law of independent assortment  genes that are not alleles are distributed to the gametes independently of one another; one of Mendel's laws.

Mendel's laws , mendelian laws two laws of inheritance of single-gene traits that form the basis of genetics; the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment.

Nysten's law  rigor mortis affects first the muscles of mastication, next those of the face and neck, then those of the trunk and arms, and last those of the legs and feet.

Ohm's law  the strength of an electric current varies directly as the electromotive force and inversely as the resistance.

Raoult's law  the vapor pressure of a volatile component of an ideal solution is equal to the mole fraction of that substance in solution times its vapor pressure in the pure state at the temperature of the solution; it is true only for ideal solutions and ideal gases.

law of segregation  the members of a pair of allelic genes segregate from one another and pass to different gametes; one of Mendel's laws.

law of similars  in homeopathy, the principle that a substance that in large doses will produce symptoms of a specific disease will, in extremely small doses, cure it.

laws of thermodynamics  Zeroth law: two systems in thermal equilibrium with a third are in thermal equilibrium with each other. First law: energy is conserved in any process. Second law: there is always an increase in entropy in any naturally occurring (spontaneous) process. Third law: absolute zero is unattainable.

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law (lô)

n.

1. A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.

2. A set of rules or principles for a specific area of a legal system.

3. A piece of enacted legislation.

4. A formulation describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met.

5. A generalization based on consistent experience or results.

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law,

n 1. any rule within a legal system.
2. in science, a general principle describing an observed regularity.
3. a general organizing principle.

law of cure,

n in homeopathy, the pattern through which healing occurs. Specifically, from within to without, from top to bottom, from more serious to less serious, and in reverse order of development.

law of mother and child,

n in Chinese medicine, the natural order that dictates the association between the five elements—wood, metal, water, fire, and earth—to ensure harmony. Each element is believed to generate or “give birth” to another element in a cyclical pattern of wood-fire-earth-metal-water-wood. The interaction of these five elements serves as an example for familial behavior.

law of similars,

n in homeopathy, the principle governing the selection of a remedy. A substance that has been tested and shown to induce particular symptoms in a healthy person is administered to an individual suffering from those same symptoms to enhance the body's recovery mechanisms.

law, Arndt-Schulz,

n.pr law that describes the link between the potency of a stimulus and its effectiveness on physiologic performance. Weak stimuli promote biologic life functions, moderate stimuli interfere with them, and strong stimuli reduce or annihilate them.

law, common,

n statutes created through a judge's decisions.

law, Head,

n.pr according to which a painful stimulus, when applied to an area of low sensitivity which is bounded by an area of higher sensitivity, will be felt at the latter area rather than at the former.

law, Sherrington,

n.pr 1. states that specific regions of the skin are innervated by specific posterior spinal nerve roots, although adjacent nerve fibers may also be present.
2. states that a contraction impulse to a muscle is paired with a relaxation impulse to that muscle's antagonist.

law, statute,

n ruling established by the governing authority.

laws, access to treatment,

n legislation that guarantees that patients have the right to obtain a procedure, device, or medication that is intended to be used as a mitigation, cure, therapeutic approach, or preventive measure.

laws, natural living,

n.pl in naturopathic medicine, general principles that govern a healthy lifestyle, including eating foods that are natural and unrefined, exercising and resting for appropriate period of time, maintaining a moderately paced schedule, maintaining positive and stimulating emotional states, avoiding pollution and toxins, and properly eliminat-ing wastes from the body.

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law(s),

n 1. that which is laid down or established. An enforceable rule of conduct.
n.pl 2. that which must be obeyed and followed by citizens, subject to sanctions or legal consequences. The term is also used in opposition to fact. E.g., in a lawsuit, questions of law are to be decided by the court, whereas the jury decides questions in fact.

law, administrative,

n a set of specific rules and regulations overseen by an administrative agency in order to enforce the law.

law, case,

n the use of citations of previous court opinions in a court case, taken from the court decisions published by the state and federal government.

law, Charles's,

n the principle that states that all gases expand equally upon heating and contract equally upon cooling.

law, constitutional,

n the set of supreme laws set out in the U.S. Constitution. All other state and federal laws must be in accordance with the laws of the Constitution. The Constitution designates the roles of the three branches of government as well as setting forth which areas of law are in federal jurisdiction and which are left to the states.

law, Dalton's,

n the principle that states that the pressure of a mixture of gases equals the sum of the partial pressures of the constituent gases.

law, ignorance of,

n a want of knowledge or acquaintance with the laws of the land insofar as they apply to the act, relation, duty, or matter under consideration.

law, inverse-square,

n principle stating that the strength of radiation from a point source varies inversely as the square of the distance.

law, judicial,

n the interpretation of the written law by the courts. Decisions are often based on
stare decisis, the doctrine that allows the court to follow the decision made in a previous case in the same jurisdiction. A departure from the legal precedents is known as a landmark decision.

law, moral,

n the aggregate of rules and principles of ethics that relate to right and wrong conduct and prescribe the standards to which the actions of persons should conform in their dealings with each other.

law, neurologic,

n See law of specific energy.

law of radiosensitivity, BergonieTribondeau

(ber´gonē´ trebondō´),
n.pr law stating that the resistance or sensitivity to radiation depends on the metabolic state of a cell, tissue, or an organ.

law of specific energy (neurologic law),

n principle that states, in essence, that sensory quality is perceived according to the nerve that is excited, not according to the object that excites. If pressure placed on the eyeballs stimulates the retina, light is perceived, not pressure; similarly, electrical stimulation will produce sensations of smell, taste, touch, or pain in accordance with the nerve stimulated but not a sensation of electricity as such. The special as well as the general senses maintain this principle.

law, tort,

n an area of law that deals with civil wrongs perpetrated against another person or private property. The primary concerns in dentistry are negligence and malpractice. A lapse in professional standards may be subject to proceedings for negligence or malpractice.

law, Wolff's,

n principle that states that all changes in the function of bone are attended by definite alterations in its internal structure.

law(s), written,

n/n.pl the law or laws created by express legislation or enactment, as distinguished from
unwritten or
common law, which includes all law or laws from any other legal source.

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law

1. natural law; a uniform or constant fact or principle in nature.

2. legal law; the laws of persons, developed so that social contacts between individuals can be managed on a basis of mutual understanding and agreement.

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adversarial law (2) system

arguments are settled by having each opponent, one of whom is often the state, argue his/her case before a court, which decides the outcome, often on the basis of precedent in previous similar cases.

law (1) of the circle

the radiographic principle on which localization of a radioopaque foreign body can be specified exactly. It depends on taking the x-rays at right angles to each other, a ventrodorsal and a lateral.

civil law (2)

see inquisitorial law (below).

common law (2)

the law of common usage, in which principles are derived from case law and the judgments made in actual cases.

English law (2)

the original common law system.

law (1) of independent assortment

the members of gene pairs segregate independently during meiosis. See also mendel's laws.

inquisitorial law (2) system

the basis of Roman law. The court questions each of the adversaries in an argument and decides the outcome on the basis of the code layed down.

law (1) of mass action

the rate of a reversible reaction, in either direction, is proportional to the concentrations of the reacting substances.

private law (2)

law relating to the conduct of individuals, e.g. contract, divorce, matrimonial, property law.

public law (2)

the law relating to group conduct, especially the state and its criminal, industrial and constitutional law, but also corporation law.

Roman law (2)

law by application of an elaborate written code, the basis for most European law. It is an inquisitorial law system.

law (1) of segregation

in each generation the ratio of (1) pure dominants, (2) dominants giving descendants in the proportion of three dominants to one recessive, and (3) pure recessives is 1:2:1. This ratio follows from the fact that the two alleles of a gene cannot be a part of a single gamete, but must segregate to different gametes. See also mendel's laws.

law of Similars

the defining principle of homeopathy; substances that produce symptoms in disease can be used to treat diseases with those symptoms.

statute law (2)

that part of an English law system that is set down in statutes or law established by Act of Parliament of the day.

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Starling's hypothesis, law

the law relating to the passage of fluid out of a capillary depending on the hydrostatic and osmotic pressures of the blood and the same pressures of tissue fluid, the net effect of the opposing pressures determining the direction and rate of flow.

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law A uniform principle or constant. See Boyle's law, Charles' law, Farr's law of epidemics, Fick's law of diffusion, Frank-Starling law, Gown's law, Gresham's law, Hardy-Weinberg law, Harvard law, Heart law, Leborgne's law, Moore's law, Murphy's law of genetics, Natural law, Natural sexual law, Ohm's law, Periodic law, Roemer's law, Sutton's law, Talion law Government A legislative act that compels compliance. See AIDS disclosure law, Annie's law, Anti-dumping law, Antikickback law, Antisubstitution law, Antitrust law, Baby Doe law, Bad baby law, Chinese Law on Maternal & Infant Health Care law, Company doctor law, Due process law, Good Samaritan law, Heart law, Megan's law, Preemptive tobacco control law, Prompt payment law, Roemer's law, Seat belt law, Son of Sam law, Stark law, Sunset law.