legal
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of loyal and leal.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈliː.ɡəl/
- Rhymes: -iːɡəl
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈliɡəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective edit
legal (comparative more legal, superlative most legal)
- Relating to the law or to lawyers.
- 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
- According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
- legal profession
- Having its basis in the law.
- legal precedent
- Being established, permitted, required or prescribed by law.
- 2013 August 23, “Waking life”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8850:
- After 50 years, legal segregation is a distant memory, and race in America is not the unbridgeable chasm it once was. The country has a black president. The sort of comity that King evoked, in which the descendants of slaves and of slave owners “sit down together at the table of brotherhood”, can be found in many places, including the Deep South. The rate of marriage between blacks and whites is rising.
- legal motion
- Following the rules or syntax of a system, such as a game or a programming language.
- If you have no legal move, but are not in check the game is a draw.
- 2021, John V. Guttag, Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python, Third Edition, page 7:
- Programming languages are designed so that each legal program has exactly one meaning
- (informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.
- 2012 September 18, Sandra Brown, Low Pressure, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:
- "Is she even legal? Shame on you, diddlin' a girl too young to buy beer. You being a church deacon and all." If looks could kill, Dale would be dead.
- 2024 April 18, Ayin Quijano, Bottoms Up, Boracay (Season 2 Amihan), Ayin Quijano:
- "Is she even legal? She looks like a minor." Elias whispers back, "Of course. I checked her passport. She's 20. What do you take me for? Be nice. I like her." I immediately smile at the girl behind Elias, […]
- Permitting the use and/or sale of cannabis; in which cannabis is lawful.
- 2016 January 30, Jasper Stohner, 101 Money Making Methods in the Marijuana Madness Movement of 2016, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 45:
- Whether you're interested in opening a retail marijuana store in a legal state or if you're interested in investing in someone or a company, which is operating in a legal state, there are […]
- 2019 September 13, Tracy Ferrell, Migrating for Medical Marijuana: Pioneers in a New Frontier of Treatment, McFarland, →ISBN, page 160:
- [Because] marijuana is still a federally illegal drug, using the drug in a child's presence, even in a legal state, could thus be construed as child abuse.
- (US, Canada) (of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) (also legal-size).
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "allowed"): banned, contraband, disallowed, forbidden, illegal, outlawed, unlawful
- (antonym(s) of "concerning law"): black-market, back-alley
- (antonym(s) of "over age of consent"): underage
Coordinate terms edit
- (law): equitable
Derived terms edit
- antilegal
- chief legal officer
- counterlegal
- cyberlegal
- dentolegal
- extralegal
- hyperlegal
- intralegal
- juridico-legal
- lagger
- legal action
- legal advice
- legal age
- legal agreement
- legal aid
- legal assistant
- legal beagle
- legal blindness
- legal cap
- legal capacity
- legal certainty
- legal chemistry
- legal code
- legal consequence
- legal cynicism
- legal duty
- legal eagle
- legal effect
- legal entity
- legal-ese
- legalese
- legal fiction
- legal gender
- legal height
- legal heir
- legal hold
- legal holiday
- legal instrument
- legal interest
- legalise
- Legalism
- legalism
- legalist
- legalistic
- legalitarian
- legality
- legalize
- legally
- legal name
- legalness
- legal notice
- legal pad
- legal person
- legal positivism
- legal professional privilege
- legal recourse
- legal relationship
- legal remedy
- legal representative
- legal separation
- legal sex
- legalspeak
- legal studies
- legal system
- legaltech
- legal tender
- legal vacuum
- medicolegal
- medicolegal
- metalegal
- nonlegal
- paralegal
- politicolegal
- postlegal
- prelegal
- preterlegal
- pseudolegal
- psycholegal
- quasilegal
- semilegal
- sociolegal
- sociopoliticolegal
- street-legal
- sublegal
- supralegal
- ultralegal
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun edit
legal (countable and uncountable, plural legals)
- (uncountable, informal) The legal department of a company.
- Legal wants this in writing.
- (uncountable, US, Canada) Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).
- (countable) A spy who is attached to, and ostensibly employed by, an embassy, military outpost, etc.
- (countable, informal, US) Somebody who immigrated lawfully.
- Antonyms: illegal, undocumented
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legals)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “legal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “legal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “legal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “legal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Chavacano edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
legál
Danish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal
- legal (something that conforms to or is according to law)
- legitimate (conforming to accepted rules)
Inflection edit
Inflection of legal | |||
---|---|---|---|
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
Indefinte common singular | legal | — | —2 |
Indefinite neuter singular | legalt | — | —2 |
Plural | legale | — | —2 |
Definite attributive1 | legale | — | — |
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively. |
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "legal"): illegal
Galician edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: le‧gal
Adjective edit
legal m or f (plural legais)
Derived terms edit
See also edit
German edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal (strong nominative masculine singular legaler, not comparable)
Declension edit
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist legal | sie ist legal | es ist legal | sie sind legal | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | legaler | legale | legales | legale |
genitive | legalen | legaler | legalen | legaler | |
dative | legalem | legaler | legalem | legalen | |
accusative | legalen | legale | legales | legale | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der legale | die legale | das legale | die legalen |
genitive | des legalen | der legalen | des legalen | der legalen | |
dative | dem legalen | der legalen | dem legalen | den legalen | |
accusative | den legalen | die legale | das legale | die legalen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein legaler | eine legale | ein legales | (keine) legalen |
genitive | eines legalen | einer legalen | eines legalen | (keiner) legalen | |
dative | einem legalen | einer legalen | einem legalen | (keinen) legalen | |
accusative | einen legalen | eine legale | ein legales | (keine) legalen |
Further reading edit
Indonesian edit
Etymology edit
From Dutch legaal (“legal”), from French légal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal
- legal, allowed or prescribed by law.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “legal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Compare leal, an inherited doublet.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal m or f (plural legais, comparable, comparative mais legal, superlative o mais legal or legalíssimo)
Quotations edit
For quotations using this term, see Citations:legal.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French légal, Latin legalis. By surface analysis, lege + -al. Doublet of loial.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal m or n (feminine singular legală, masculine plural legali, feminine and neuter plural legale)
Declension edit
Related terms edit
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis, from lēx (“law”). Compare leal, an inherited doublet.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legales)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “legal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
legal (not comparable)
Declension edit
Inflection of legal | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | legal | — | — |
Neuter singular | legalt | — | — |
Plural | legala | — | — |
Masculine plural3 | legale | — | — |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | legale | — | — |
All | legala | — | — |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
Related terms edit
Tagalog edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /leˈɡal/, [lɛˈɣal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: le‧gal
Adjective edit
legál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜄᜎ᜔)
Related terms edit
Turkish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French légal, from Latin lēgālis.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
legal