legal
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of loyal and leal.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈliː.ɡəl/
- Rhymes: -iːɡəl
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈliɡəl/
Audio (US) (file)
AdjectiveEdit
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 allowed 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
- (informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.
AntonymsEdit
- (allowed): banned, contraband, disallowed, forbidden, illegal, outlawed, unlawful
- (concerning law): black-market, back-alley
- (over age of consent): underage
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms
TranslationsEdit
relating to the law or to lawyers
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having its basis in the law
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allowed or prescribed by law
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
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.
Derived termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
CatalanEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal (masculine and feminine plural legals)
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
DanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal
- legal (something that conforms to or is according to law)
- legitimate (conforming to accepted rules)
InflectionEdit
| Inflection of legal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Common singular | legal | — | —2 |
| 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. | |||
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
- (legal): illegal
GalicianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.
AdjectiveEdit
legal m, f (plural legais)
- legal (having its basis in the law)
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
GermanEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal (not comparable)
DeclensionEdit
Declension of legal
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| 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 | |
AntonymsEdit
Further readingEdit
- legal in Duden online
PortugueseEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Compare leal, an inherited doublet.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal m, f (plural legais, comparable)
QuotationsEdit
For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:legal.
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
RomanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from French légal, Latin legalis.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal m, n (feminine singular legală, masculine plural legali, feminine and neuter plural legale)
DeclensionEdit
declension of legal
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
Related termsEdit
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin lēgālis, from lēx (“law”). Compare leal, an inherited doublet.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal (plural legales)
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
AdjectiveEdit
legal (not comparable)
DeclensionEdit
| Inflection of legal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | legal | — | — |
| Neuter singular | legalt | — | — |
| Plural | legala | — | — |
| 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. | |||