What does legislatively mean?
Legislatively is an adverb meaning in a manner connected with lawmaking, especially the actions of a legislature or parliament. It can identify the process by which something was changed, authorized, or enacted, as in a phrase such as “legislatively approved.” The word is also commonly used more broadly to contrast formal lawmaking with administrative action, judicial decision-making, or direct implementation by officials. Because it points specifically to legislative activity, it often carries a formal institutional tone and is especially common in political reporting, legal writing, and policy discussions. Its precise grammatical role matters: legislative is the adjective, while legislatively describes how an action occurs. Although it may sometimes sound elaborate, it usefully distinguishes a measure’s passage through a legislature from its later enforcement or interpretation.
adverbIn or according to the manner, principles, or procedures of making laws. It describes an action or decision carried out through legislative bodies or their members.
- By means of, in accordance with, or with reference to the process of making laws.
"The committee revised the proposal legislatively before submitting it for a final vote."
"The measure was legislatively altered before the committee approved it."
"Members debated the issue legislatively rather than through informal consultation."
“Legislatively” marks the difference between what lawmakers enact and what officials or courts later do with those laws.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does legislatively come from?
Legislatively was formed from the adjective legislative and the adverbial suffix -ly. The adjective ultimately comes through French from Latin roots associated with legem, “law,” and latus, “brought or proposed,” reflecting the historical idea of bringing a law before the people or a lawmaking body. Modern related forms include legislate, legislation, and legislature, all of which preserve the legal and lawmaking sense of the Latin source.
How legislatively is actually used
The adverb is formal and is most common in legal, political, and institutional writing. It is sometimes used more broadly to mean “through legislation,” as in “the policy was adopted legislatively.”
Easily confused with legislatively
Legislative is an adjective describing lawmaking or a lawmaking body, whereas legislatively is an adverb describing an action performed in that context.