# Menzerath's law

> English word · Proper noun

## Definitions
1. A rule according to which the increase of a linguistic construct results in a decrease of its constituents, and vice versa: for example, the more clauses appear in a sentence, the shorter those clauses are.

## Etymology
Named after Paul Menzerath.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/menzerath-s-law