legal

[lee-guhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR legal ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

permitted by law; lawful: Such acts are not legal.

of or relating to law; connected with the law or its administration: the legal profession.

appointed, established, or authorized by law; deriving authority from law.

recognized by law rather than by equity.

of, relating to, or characteristic of the profession of law or of lawyers: a legal mind.

Theology.

of or relating to the Mosaic Law.
of or relating to the doctrine that salvation is gained by good works rather than through free grace.

noun

a person who acts in a legal manner or with legal authority.

an alien who has entered a country legally.

a person whose status is protected by law.

a fish or game animal, within specified size or weight limitations, that the law allows to be caught and kept during an appropriate season.

a foreigner who conducts espionage against a host country while working there in a legitimate capacity, often in the diplomatic service.

legals, authorized investments that may be made by fiduciaries, as savings banks or trustees.

Origin of legal

1490–1500; < Latin lēgālis of the law, equivalent to lēg- (stem of lēx) law + -ālis -al¹

Related formsle·gal·ly, adverbpost·le·gal, adjectivepre·le·gal, adjectivepseu·do·le·gal, adjectivequa·si-le·gal, adjectivequa·si-le·gal·ly, adverbun·le·gal, adjectiveun·le·gal·ly, adverbun·le·gal·ness, noun

Synonyms for legal

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR legal ON THESAURUS.COM

3. licit, legitimate, sanctioned.

legal dictionary

noun

a specialized dictionary covering terms used in the various branches of the legal profession, as civil law, criminal law, and corporate law. A comprehensive legal dictionary adds to its body of standard English entries many words and phrases that have made their way into modern legal practice from law French and Latin and are rarely found in a general English monolingual dictionary. Such a specialized dictionary is useful not only for law students and for attorneys themselves, but for members of the lay public who require legal services. Legal dictionaries published in print follow the normal practice of sorting entry terms alphabetically, while electronic dictionaries, such as the online Dictionary of Law on Dictionary.com, allow direct, immediate access to a search term.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for legal

fair, constitutional, statutory, valid, legitimate, lawful, proper, juridical, contractual, acknowledged, authorized, clean, due, enforced, forensic, granted, innocent, judicial, just, justifiable

Examples from the Web for legal

Contemporary Examples of legal

What if there were a legal dispute between the foreign investor and his or her Egyptian partners or collaborators?
Amal Clooney vs. Egypt’s Courts
Christopher Dickey
January 4, 2015
However, legal issues are only one of the things standing between an ex-prisoner and a job.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside
Justin Rohrlich
January 3, 2015
Disagreements will focus on right and wrong, not parsing of legal language.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans
Philip K. Howard
December 27, 2014
The legal jungle must be bulldozed, and replaced by radically simpler framework of goals and principles.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans
Philip K. Howard
December 27, 2014
What you see is a massive, well-intentioned, legal junk pile.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans
Philip K. Howard
December 27, 2014

Historical Examples of legal

But moral conviction and legal proof are quite different things.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
He dealt with the question on theological, legal and social grounds.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
By this measure all legal proceedings for the recovery of church rates were abolished.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
There is a legal limit to physical cruelty; and there are also human limits to it.
A Treatise on Parents and Children
George Bernard Shaw
The eight children do not belong to the woman in any real or legal sense.
A Treatise on Parents and Children
George Bernard Shaw

British Dictionary definitions for legal

legal

adjective

established by or founded upon law; lawful

of or relating to law

recognized, enforceable, or having a remedy at law rather than in equity

relating to or characteristic of the profession of law

Derived Formslegally, adverb

Word Origin for legal

C16: from Latin lēgālis, from lēx law

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for legal

adj.

mid-15c. "of or pertaining to the law," from Middle French légal or directly from Latin legalis "legal, pertaining to the law," from lex (genitive legis) "law," possibly related to legere "to gather," on notion of "a collection of rules" (see lecture (n.)).

Sense of "permitted by law" is from 1640s. Related: Legally. The Old French form was leial, loial (see leal, loyal). Legal tender is from 1740.