What is "nomos"

n. The body of law, especially that governing human behaviour.

Nomos or Nomoi may refer to:

• from the Greek term for " law" (, nómoi). It is the origin of the suffix -onomy, as in astronomy, economy, or taxonomy.
  • custom, traditional social norm, the equivalent of Latin Mores
  • Laws (dialogue), a work by Plato
  • Nomos (music), in early Greek culture, the traditional melody types used by the singer for the recitation of the epics, and all-known melody types used by citharedes and auletes in musical contests.
  • Nomos (mythology), "the spirit of law" in Greek mythology
  • Nomos (sociology), "meaningful orders or worldviews of individuals" in Peter L. Berger's sociology of religion
• from the Greek νομός, meaning "pasture, field; division, distribution; district, province"
  • Nome (Egypt), a subdivisions of Ancient Egypt
  • Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the peripheries of Greece (, nomoí)

-- The nouns nómos and nomós both derive from the verb νέμω, némō, to dispense or to allot, with nomós being the result of allotment and nómos being the manner of allotment or dispensing (justice).

In ancient Greek religion Nomos is the daemon of laws, statutes, and ordinances. By one account, Nomos' wife is Eusebia (Piety), and their daughter is Dike (Justice).

The nomos is also the making of the human law in the ancient Greek. The Sophists were persuaded that the Nomos wasn't especially the best in Greek but had as first the idea that it was equal but different of other cultures.

In sociology, nomos refers to provisional codes (habits or customs) of social and political behavior, socially constructed and historically (even geographically) specific. The term derives from the Greek νόμος, and it refers not only to explicit laws but to all of the normal rules and forms people take for granted in their day to day activities. Nomos stands for order, valid and binding on those who fall under its jurisdiction; thus it is a social construct with ethical dimensions. It is a belief, opinion or point of view; it is a human invention.

Cork-based Nomos were an Irish traditional music band during the 1990s. The group formed in 1990 and consisted of Niall Vallely on concertina, Vince Milne on fiddle, Frank Torpey on bodhran, Gerry McKee on bouzouki, and Eoin Coughlan on vocals and bass. They have been described as one of the "most popular Irish bands of the 1990's," and as "one of the more innovative and fiery Irish traditional bands".