English

law-way

From law + -way; compare foodway.

Formed from law + -way

Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’

…

Old Norse lag ‘layer, stratum, a laying in order’

Old Norse lǫg ‘law’

Old English lagu ‘law’

Middle English lawe ‘law’

English law

Today it means

noun A community's specific set of laws and legal practices.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.