1. Law in the abstract.
2. A system of law.
3. A legal right, power, or principle.
4. Roman law. Man-made law. • The term usu. refers to a right rather than a statute. Cf. FAS(1); JUS ANTIQUUM; LEX. — Abbr. J. — Also spelled ius. Pl. jura (joor-[schwa] alsoyoor-[schwa]).
“Ius, when used in a general sense, answers to our word Law in its widest acceptation. It denotes, not one particular law nor collection of laws, but the entire body of principles, rules, and statutes, whether written or unwritten, by which the public and the private rights, the duties and the obligations of men, as members of a community, are defined, inculcated, protected and enforced.” William Ramsay, A Manual of Roman Antiquities 285–86 (Rodolfo Lanciani ed., 15th ed. 1894).
