Adjacent Words

international law definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the body of laws governing relations between nations [syn: international law, law of nations] [ant: civil law]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: circa 1828 a body of rules that control or affect the rights of nations in their relations with each other

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

International In`ter*na"tion*al, a. [Pref. inter- + national: cf. F. international.] 1. Between or among nations; pertaining to the intercourse of nations; participated in by two or more nations; common to, or affecting, two or more nations. 2. Of or concerning the association called the International. International code (Naut.), a common system of signaling adopted by nearly all maritime nations, whereby communication may be had between vessels at sea. International copyright. See under Copyright. International law, the rules regulating the mutual intercourse of nations. International law is mainly the product of the conditions from time to time of international intercourse, being drawn from diplomatic discussion, textbooks, proof of usage, and from recitals in treaties. It is called public when treating of the relations of sovereign powers, and private when of the relations of persons of different nationalities. International law is now, by the better opinion, part of the common law of the land. Cf. Conflict of laws, under Conflict. --Wharton.