law of nations

Meanings

1. Synonym of international law.
2. The shared set of legal principles said to be recognized by most peoples in the world; natural law.

Etymology

Calque of Latin iūs gentium, originally meaning legal principles that are general to humanity. The sense “international law” became standard in the 17th–18th centuries, partly from reanalysis as referring to the law that pertains to nations as distinct entities, and partly from the supposition that any law governing relations between states must transcend the states themselves. See also English jus gentium, directly borrowed.