kanunu

Kanunu is a term found in Turkish and Ottoman contexts that is primarily associated with law and legal codes. In Turkish, the base word kanun means law, statute, or regulation. The form kanunu appears in various constructions that convey possession or definiteness, and it also occurs in historical and formal titles where the definite sense of “the law” is required.

In Ottoman and early Turkish law, the concept of kanun played a central role as a vehicle for codified rules and royal or parliamentary enactments. Important legal compilations were often named with kanun or kanunname, meaning a codex or book of laws. One notable example is the Kanun-ı Esasi, the fundamental law or constitution of 1876, which established a constitutional framework for the Ottoman Empire and reflected a shift toward bureaucratic and legal formalism.

In modern Turkey, kanun remains the ordinary term for statutory laws enacted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The plural form kanunlar refers to laws in general, and the word appears in discussions of legislation, regulatory frameworks, and legal practice. The term also survives in historical titles and discussions of Ottoman legal reforms, where kanun is encountered in both general and specific contexts.

Etymologically, kanun derives from Arabic qanun (law, rule) and spread through Persian and Turkish into a range of legal and administrative expressions. The form kanunu is part of Turkish grammar, illustrating how the same root yields both simple noun meaning and form-specific uses in sentences and titles. See also Kanun, Kanunname, and Kanun-ı Esasi for related topics.