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legible

[lej-uh-buh l]
adjective
  1. capable of being read or deciphered, especially with ease, as writing or printing; easily readable.
  2. capable of being discerned or distinguished: Anger was legible in his looks and behavior.
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Origin of legible

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin legibilis; equivalent to leg(ere) to read + -ibilis -ible
Related formsleg·i·bly, adverbun·leg·i·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for legibly

Historical Examples of legibly

  • The letters are legibly written, and there can be no mistake about any of them.

    Notes and Queries, Number 186, May 21, 1853

    Various

  • They were but brief and legibly written—the script familiar to him.

    The Free Lances

    Mayne Reid

  • It should be legibly written, so that it may be read with comfort; but no more than that.

    The Bertrams

    Anthony Trollope

  • It is written so legibly, too, that I can read it without my glasses.

    The Campers Out

    Edward S. Ellis

  • Also, fill in the amount of your deposit as plainly, and as legibly as possible.

British Dictionary definitions for legibly

legible

adjective
  1. (of handwriting, print, etc) able to be read or deciphered
  2. able to be discovered; discernible
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Derived Formslegibility or legibleness, nounlegibly, adverb

Word Origin for legible

C14: from Late Latin legibilis, from Latin legere to read
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 legibly

legible

adj.

late 14c., from Late Latin legibilis "that can be read," from Latin legere "to read" (see lecture (n.)). Related: Legibly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper