Word
法則
Meaning in Englishlaw, rule
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
法則 denotes a natural or general law or principle that governs patterns or regularities in nature, society, or a system; it is used to describe consistent relationships that can be observed, tested, and used to predict outcomes.
Main meanings
- Natural law or universal principle that governs phenomena in nature or a system.
- A rule, standard, or regularity used to predict or explain outcomes in a field such as physics, biology, sociology, or engineering.
- A guiding principle or axiom used in theory or discussion, sometimes used in everyday language to indicate expected patterns.
How to use it
Used in formal, scientific, and philosophical contexts to refer to invariant laws or principles. It is common in physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics to describe regularities, as well as in social sciences to refer to established norms; in everyday language, it's less common and often replaced by 規則 or ルール depending on nuance.
Variants and close terms
- 原理 — principle (genri)
- 規則 — rule/regulation (kisoku)
- 自然法則 — natural law (shizen hōsoku)
Composition
- 法: law, method, or principle; used in compounds to denote formal rules or statutes.
- 則: rule, standard, or principle; together they express the concept of a governing rule or law.
Word class
noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N2
寸法
sumpou
measurement, size, dimension
N2
不規則
fukisoku
irregularity, unsteadiness
N3
作法
sahou
manners, etiquette, proper conduct
N3
憲法
kenpou
constitution, fundamental law
N3
法
hou
Act (law: the X Act)
N3
方法
houhou
method, means, technique
N4
文法
bunpou
grammar
N4
法律
houritsu
law, legislation
N4
規則
kisoku
rule, regulation
Kanji