Outlawry

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈaʊtlɔːɹi/

Definitions

1. The condition in which an individual is denied legal protection due to criminal conduct creates a status of being considered a fugitive from justice
2. A situation where a person is stripped of legal rights and protection, often as a result of being labeled a criminal
3. The status in which a person is excluded from the protection and recognition of the law due to criminal behavior

Etymology: Outlawry was the legal state of being placed outside the law's protection, a punishment that stripped a person of every right the law normally gave. Someone declared an outlaw could be robbed, injured or even killed by anyone without penalty, because no one owed them justice. The word traces back to Old English "utlagu", a noun built from "utlaga", meaning a person put outside the law. Anglo-Norman "utlagarie" and Medieval Latin "utlagaria" carried the same sense across into the legal courts, and Middle English took the word as "outlawerie". The English word is a transparent compound: "outlaw" with the suffix "-ry", which is an abstract-noun ending borrowed through French from the Latin "-aria". Its literal meaning was the condition of being an outlaw, and that is still the sense it keeps.

Synonyms: outlawing, proscription