城鎮替自己訂的法
圈子畫在一塊地上。這是字源最貼近的一支，也是唯一真的有法律效力的一支：圈子裡的人都要遵守，違反會被罰。
noun · B2
A law made by a local government — a town, a city or a council — that people in that area must obey.
（地方政府的）法規
核心畫面
A bylaw can be pictured as a rule that a smaller circle draws for itself, and that only counts inside that circle. Not the law of a whole country — the rule of this town, or of this club. Stand inside the circle and it binds you; step outside and it stops meaning anything. The two senses are the same picture with the circle drawn around different things.
bylaw 可以想成一個比較小的圈子替自己畫的規矩，而且只在那個圈子裡算數。不是整個國家的大法，是這個城鎮的規定，或…更多收起
bylaw 可以想成一個比較小的圈子替自己畫的規矩，而且只在那個圈子裡算數。不是整個國家的大法，是這個城鎮的規定，或這個社團的規定。站在圈子裡面，它就管得到你；走出去，它就不再有意義。兩個意思其實是同一張圖，只是圈子畫在不同的東西外面。From the word’s history
Wiktionary traces bylaw partly to Old Norse býjar ('town's, settlement's') plus lǫg ('laws'), with Danish bylov ('municipal law') on the same line. The by- was never the preposition by; it was the town. That is why the whole word still means a rule made by a smaller body for its own patch.
Wiktionary 記的來源之一，是古諾斯語的 býjar（城鎮的）加上 lǫg（法律），丹麥文的 bylov（市法）也在同一條線上。這裡的 by- 從來就不是介系詞 by，而是「城鎮」。所以整個字到今天還是那個意思：小單位替自己訂的規矩。
Wiktionary entry 'bylaw' (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:781638495): 'from Old Norse býjar (town's; settlement's) + lǫg (laws; jurisdiction)... Danish bylov (municipal law).'
Two branches
組織替自己訂的章程
同一張圖，圈子改畫在一群人外面。城鎮換成社團、公司、協會，效力也從法律降成內部約定：違反了由團體自己處理，不是犯法。
noun · B2
A rule that an organization makes to control how it runs itself and what its members must do. Longman marks this use American English, and the rules are usually talked about together, as the bylaws.
（組織的）章程；內規