legal

EtymologyEdit

From Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).

PronunciationEdit

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈliː.ɡəl/
• Rhymes: -iːɡəl
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈliɡəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

AdjectiveEdit

legal (comparative more legal, superlative most legal)

1. Relating to the law or to lawyers.
   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, 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

2. Having its basis in the law.

   legal precedent

3. Being allowed or prescribed by law.
   • 2013 August 23, “Waking life”, 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

4. (informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.

AntonymsEdit

• (allowed): banned, contraband, disallowed, forbidden, illegal, outlawed
• (concerning law): black-market, back-alley
• (over age of consent): underage

Derived termsEdit

• legal beagle
• legal duty
• legal eagle
• legality
• legalese
• paralegal

TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

legal (uncountable)

1. (US, Canada) Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).

Derived termsEdit

• legal-size

StatisticsEdit

• Most common English words before 1923: winter · expect · nation · #964: legal · spread · enter · consider

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

AdjectiveEdit

legal m, f (masculine and feminine plural legals)

1. legal

AntonymsEdit

• il·legal

Derived termsEdit

• legalment

Related termsEdit

• legalitat
• llei
• lleial

EtymologyEdit

From Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /leɡaːl/, [leˈɡ̊æːˀl]

AdjectiveEdit

legal (neuter legalt, definite and plural legale)

1. legal (something that conforms to or is according to law)
2. legitimate (conforming to accepted rules)

SynonymsEdit

• (legal): lovlig
• (legitimate): legitim

AntonymsEdit

• (legal): illegal

EtymologyEdit

From Latin lēgālis.

AdjectiveEdit

legal m, f (plural legais)

1. legal (having its basis in the law)

AntonymsEdit

• ilegal

Derived termsEdit

• legalmente

See alsoEdit

• lícito

EtymologyEdit

From Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): [leˈɡaːl]

AdjectiveEdit

legal

1. legal

AntonymsEdit

• illegal

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Compare leal.

PronunciationEdit

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /leˈɡaw/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɨˈɣaɫ/

AdjectiveEdit

legal m, f (plural legais; comparable)

1. legal
2. (Brazil, familiar) cool, nice (person)
3. (Brazil, familiar) good (thing)

SynonymsEdit

• (Portugal, cool): fixe

AntonymsEdit

• (legal): ilegal
• (cool): chato

EtymologyEdit

From French légal.

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

AdjectiveEdit

legal ^{4 nom/acc forms}

1. legal, lawful

DeclensionEdit

SynonymsEdit

• licit

AntonymsEdit

• ilegal
• ilicit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis, from lēx (“law”). Compare leal.

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

AdjectiveEdit

legal m, f (plural legales)

1. legal

AntonymsEdit

• ilegal

Derived termsEdit

• legalmente

AdjectiveEdit

legal

1. legal

DeclensionEdit

Related termsEdit

• illegal
• legalitet
• legitim