Regulated means in working order as to be expected or like that used the term for a clock in the 18th century a well regulated clock
The phrase "well-regulated" is an idiom that means something like "working as expected, calibrated correctly, normal, regular". You can't interpret an idiom literally based solely on the words that it's made from - idioms have their own independent meaning.
The following source gives examples from the Oxford English Dictionary of how the idiom was used from 1709 through 1894, demonstrating how the idiom 'well-regulated' has meaning beyond 'regulations' i.e. laws.
Constitution Society – Advocates and enforcers of the U.S. and State Constitutions
> 1709: "If a liberal Education has formed in us well-regulated Appetites and worthy Inclinations."
> 1714: "The practice of all well-regulated courts of justice in the world."
> 1812: "The equation of time ... is the adjustment of the difference of time as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun dial."
> 1848: "A remissness for which I am sure every well-regulated person will blame the Mayor."
> 1862: "It appeared to her well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding."
> 1894: "The newspaper, a never wanting adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city."
No, it doesn't.
Well regulated must be prescribed by our federal Congress for the militia of the United States.
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
Yes dumb ass you are wrong as usual
Well regulated when the second amendment was written did not mean what regulated means today
What I posted was what the words meant when the second amendment was written.
Question does the word Gay mean today what it was meant to say in the 1920s?
Here's a list of words that meant to say something but does not mean the same today
Meat
From the Old English
mete, ‘meat’ once referred to all solid food, including even animal feed. Around the turn of the 14th century, it started to be used in its modern sense of animal flesh for food. ‘Meat’ in the figurative sense – meaning the principal part of something, i.e. the meat of the matter – came about at the turn of the 20th century.
Nice
Derived from the Latin
nescius meaning ignorant, ‘nice’ began as a negative term for a stupid, ignorant or foolish person. In the 14th and 15th centuries, ‘nice’ began to refer to someone finely dressed or who was shy and reserved. By the 16th century, it was used to describe refined, polite society and came to be used in the positive manner we’re familiar with today. Now, with the phrase
nice guy used to describe men who wouldn’t be considered all that ‘nice’ in polite society, the usage may be going full circle.
Literally
At one time only used to refer to things that were actually happening – in the true and literal sense – ‘literally’ is now used by many people for emphasis. It’s a favourite of ex-footballer Jamie Redknapp, who came out with one-liners like “these balls now – they literally explode off your feet” and “he had to cut back inside onto his left, because he literally hasn’t got a right foot.” Language pedants take note, though: this misuse is now so widespread the Oxford English Dictionary has altered its definition.
Flirt
While nowadays we might flirt by making eye contact or mirroring another person’s body language, flirting in the mid-16th century was described as a sudden sharp movement. The original verb sense was to ‘give someone a sharp blow’ and ‘sneer at’. The word took on a playful, cheeky meaning much later.
Fantastic
Coming from the old French term
fantastique via medieval Latin and Greek, ‘fantastic’ originally referred to things that were conceived, or appeared conceived, in imagination. It’s only recently – some sources say in the 1930s – that it took on another meaning of extremely good or wonderful.
Awful
In Old English, ‘awe’ referred to “fear, terror or dread”. This later morphed into a solemn or reverential wonder, and ‘awful’ and ‘awesome’ were synonymous with awe-inspiring. Later, ‘awful’ took on a solely negative connotation, and the word found its modern-day usage to mean extremely bad. ‘Awesome’, meanwhile, evolved in the opposite way, probably in the mid-1900s, and came to mean extremely good.
Cute
A shortening of the word ‘acute’, ‘cute’ originally meant sharp or quick-witted, and was even written with an apostrophe in place of the missing A. In 1830s America, it took on a new significance and came to mean attractive, pretty or charming – though we still use it in its original manner in phrases like ‘don’t get cute with me’, referring to someone trying to be clever.
