Outlawdom

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of living outside the protection of the law as a declared outlaw
2. A situation in which a person is legally excluded from the rights and protection of the law due to outlaw status
3. The status or state of being a person who is barred from legal protections and considered outside lawful society

Etymology: "Outlawdom" is a plain compound: "outlaw" with the suffix "-dom," which attaches to a noun to name a state, condition, or domain, as in "kingdom" or "freedom." Here it turns the idea of an outlaw into the condition of being one, a lawless, cast-out status rather than a single person. The base word "outlaw" has its own older history. It comes from Old English "ūtlaga," built from "ūt" meaning "out" and "lagu" meaning "law," originally a person put outside the law's protection so that anyone could harm them without penalty. The suffix "-dom" comes from Old English "-dōm," which meant judgment or statute and later came to mean a state or realm, so the coinage fits a long pattern in English.

Synonyms: criminality, outlawry

Antonyms: legality, lawfulness