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legal

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Legal, legał, legâl, and légal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of loyal and leal.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal (comparative more legal, superlative most legal)

  1. 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
  2. Having its basis in the law.
    legal precedent
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. (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, […]
  6. 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.
  7. (Canada, US, of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in.
  8. (Philippines, of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 13 in.

Antonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

legal (countable and uncountable, plural legals)

  1. (uncountable, informal) The legal department of a company.
    Legal wants this in writing.
  2. (uncountable, US, Canada) Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).
  3. (countable) A spy who is attached to, and ostensibly employed by, an embassy, military outpost, etc.
  4. (countable, informal, US) Somebody who immigrated lawfully.
    Antonyms: illegal, undocumented

Derived terms

Anagrams

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legals)

  1. legal
    Antonym: il·legal

Derived terms

Further reading

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Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish legal.

Adjective

legál

  1. legal

Danish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leɡaːl/, [leˈɡ̊æːˀl]

Adjective

legal

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

Inflection

More information positive, comparative ...

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

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “legal”): illegal
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Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.

Pronunciation

 
  • IPA(key): (standard) /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞ɑɫ]
  • IPA(key): (gheada) /leˈħal/ [leˈħɑɫ]

  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: le‧gal

Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais)

  1. legal (having its basis in the law)
    Antonym: ilegal

Derived terms

See also

German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal (strong nominative masculine singular legaler, not comparable)

  1. legal
    Antonym: illegal

Declension

Positive forms of legal (uncomparable)
More information number & gender, singular ...

Further reading

  • “legal” in Duden online
  • “legal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch legaal (“legal”), from French légal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal (comparative lebih legal, superlative paling legal)

  1. legal, allowed or prescribed by law

Derived terms

  • dilegalkan
  • melegalkan

Further reading

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of leal, inherited from the same source.

Pronunciation

 
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /lɨˈɡal/ [lɨˈɣaɫ]
    • (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /lɨˈɡa.li/ [lɨˈɣa.li]

Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais, comparable, comparative mais legal, superlative o mais legal or legalíssimo)

  1. legal
    Synonym: lícito
    Antonym: ilegal
  2. (Brazil, colloquial) cool, nice, good
    Synonym: (Portugal) fixe
    Antonym: chato

Quotations

Derived terms

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, Latin legalis. By surface analysis, lege +‎ -al. Doublet of loial.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal m or n (feminine singular legală, masculine plural legali, feminine and neuter plural legale)

  1. legal, lawful
    Synonym: licit
    Antonyms: ilegal, ilicit

Declension

More information singular, plural ...

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legales)

  1. legal
    Antonym: ilegal
    • 2025 July 23, Priscilla Alvarez, “El Gobierno de Trump toma medidas para acelerar la deportación de menores migrantes y les ofrece opción de "autodeportarse"”, in CNN en Español‎:
      “Esta es una práctica de larga data que usaron administraciones anteriores para priorizar el regreso de los niños a la seguridad de un padre o tutor legal en su país de origen. […] CNN reportó previamente que niños migrantes estaban regresando a la custodia del gobierno debido a acciones contra sus llamados patrocinadores, que los servicios legales ofrecidos a los menores se recortaron y que los niños estaban siendo puestos en calendarios judiciales acelerados para agilizar las deportaciones.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. statutory
    Synonyms: estatutario, reglamentario
  3. lawful
  4. (colloquial) legit
    Synonym: legítimo

Derived terms

Further reading

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Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin legalis.

Adjective

legal (not comparable)

  1. legal

Declension

More information Indefinite, positive ...

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

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Tagalog

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish legal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of leal.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜄᜎ᜔)

  1. legal

Further reading

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, from Latin lēgālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal

  1. legal (being allowed or prescribed by law)
    Synonym: yasal
    Antonyms: illegal, yasa dışı

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