legislate
v.v. to make or pass new laws. Governments do this to control how a country or organization works.
v. to exercise the power of making and enacting laws. Intransitive when referring to the general power of a government; transitive when specifying the creation of a particular rule or standard.
The government plans to legislate against plastic waste.
Parliament met late into the night to legislate for stricter environmental protections across the manufacturing sector.
While the executive branch enforces existing rules, only the legislative body has the constitutional authority to legislate on matters of national taxation and public spending.
Back-formation from legislation, legislator.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often used with the preposition 'against' or 'for' to indicate the purpose of the law.
The council legislated a new lawThe council passed a new lawWhile 'legislate' means to make laws, it is rarely used with 'law' as a direct object; one legislates 'on' a topic or 'passes' a law.
Last updated May 11, 2026