legality

[ lee-gal-i-tee ]
See synonyms for legality on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural le·gal·i·ties.
  1. the state or quality of being in conformity with the law; lawfulness.

  2. attachment to or observance of law.

  1. Usually legalities. a duty or obligation imposed by law.

  2. Theology. reliance on good works for salvation rather than on free grace.

Origin of legality

1
1425–75; late Middle English legalite<Medieval Latin lēgālitās.See legal, -ity

Other words for legality

Other words from legality

  • pseu·do·le·gal·i·ty, noun, plural pseu·do·le·gal·i·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use legality in a sentence

  • He paid lip service to the Crown and whenever possible circumvented legalities.

    The Haciendas of Mexico | Paul Alexander Bartlett
  • These gods, with their moralities and legalities and intellectual subtlety, will go under and be starved out of existence.

    The Perfect Wagnerite | George Bernard Shaw
  • By their traditions, and the withs of dry and sharp legalities, they had strangled the Sabbath, until life was well-nigh extinct.

British Dictionary definitions for legality

legality

/ (lɪˈɡælɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the state or quality of being legal or lawful

  2. adherence to legal principles

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