letter of the law



letter of the law

The precise wording rather than the spirit or intent. For example, Since it was the first time he'd broken the rules, the school decided to ignore the letter of the law and just give him a warning . [Late 1500s]
See also: law, letter, of

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Ariadnaah-RYAHD-nah (Spanish, Polish)Spanish, Catalan, Russian, Polish
Settimio-Italian
Leonidas-Greek, Ancient Greek
BabÜR-Turkish
Aelius-Ancient Roman
ĐUroJOO-roCroatian, Serbian