bylaw
/ˈbaɪ.lɔ/noun
bylaw is spelled B-Y-L-A-W: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bylaw means “A local custom or law of a settlement or district” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bylaw is bylaws.
How many letters and syllables are in bylaw?
| Letters | 5: B-Y-L-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is bylaw?
Bylaw appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bylaw?
- UK /ˈbaɪ.lɔː/
- US /ˈbaɪ.lɔ/
- /ˈbaɪ.lɑ/
Bylaw has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bylaw.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bylaw
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: by-law (one word or two), bye-law.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of bylaw
- bylaws plural
- by-law
- byelaw UK
- bye-law UK
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bylaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A local custom or law of a settlement or district.
- 2
A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.
- 3
A numbered provision within such kind of legislation.
- 4
A law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization (e.g., corporation or business).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bylaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Gemeindesatzung , Gemeindeverordnung , Satzung, Statut, Geschäftsordnung |
| Spanish | fuero |
| French | arrêté, statuts |
| Portuguese | estatuto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bylaw come from?
From Middle English bylawe, bilawe, partly from Old English bīlage (“bylaw”) and partly from a variant of Middle English byrelawe, birlawe, from Old Norse býjar (“town's; settlement's”) + lǫg (“laws; jurisdiction”). Byrlaw is attested earlier in English but is unattested in Old Norse and the cognates in Scandinavian languages follow the development of bylaw: Danish bylov (“municipal law”), Swedish bylag and byalag.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).