legal

See also: Legal, legał, legâl, and légal

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: le‧gal

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. (US, Canada) (of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) (also legal-size).

Antonyms

• (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

• (law): equitable

Derived terms

• 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 high
• 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

relating to the law or to lawyers

• Arabic: قَانُونِيّ (ar) (qānūniyy)

  Hijazi Arabic: قانوني (qānūni, gānūni)

• Armenian: իրավական (hy) (iravakan)
• Asturian: xurídicu
• Belarusian: юрыды́чны (jurydýčny), пра́ўны (práŭny), прававы́ (pravavý)
• Bulgarian: юриди́чески (bg) (juridíčeski), пра́вен (bg) (práven)
• Catalan: jurídic (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法律的 (fǎlǜ de)

• Czech: právní (cs)
• Danish: juridisk, retslig
• Dutch: juridisch (nl), rechts- (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭleĝa, leĝa
• Finnish: juridinen (fi), oikeudellinen (fi), laki-, lakimies-, lainopillinen (fi)
• French: juridique (fr)
• Friulian: juridic
• Galician: legal (gl) m or f
• German: juristisch (de), rechtlich (de)
• Greek: νομικός (el) (nomikós)

  Ancient: νομικός (nomikós)

• Hebrew: משפטי (mishpati)
• Hungarian: jogi (hu)
• Irish: dleathach
• Italian: giuridico (it)
• Japanese: 法的な (ja) (hōteki na)
• Korean: 법적(法的) (ko) (beopjeok)
• Latin: legalis, legitimus (la)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: правен m (praven)
• Mongolian: хууль ёсны (xuulʹ josny), хуулийн (xuuliin), албан ёсны (alban josny)
• Norman: légal
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: juridisk (no)

  Nynorsk: juridisk

• Persian: حقوقی (fa) (hoquqi), قانونی (fa) (qânuni)
• Polish: prawniczy (pl)
• Portuguese: jurídico (pt)
• Romanian: juridic (ro)
• Russian: юриди́ческий (ru) (juridíčeskij), правово́й (ru) (pravovój)
• Sardinian: giurìdicu, zurìdicu
• Sicilian: ligali
• Slovak: právny
• Slovene: pravniški
• Spanish: jurídico (es)
• Swedish: juridisk (sv), rättsligt (sv)
• Turkish: hukuki (tr), adli (tr), hukuksal (tr), tüzel (tr)
• Ukrainian: юриди́чний (uk) (jurydýčnyj), пра́вний (právnyj), правови́й (uk) (pravovýj)
• Venetan: łegałe
• Vietnamese: luật (vi)
• Welsh: cyfreithiol (cy)

having its basis in the law

• Arabic: قَانُونِيّ (ar) (qānūniyy)

  Hijazi Arabic: قانوني (qānūni, gānūni)

• Armenian: իրավական (hy) (iravakan)
• Asturian: llegal
• Belarusian: зако́нны (zakónny), праваме́рны (pravamjérny)
• Bulgarian: зако́нов (zakónov)
• Catalan: legal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法定的 (fǎdìng de)

• Czech: právní (cs), legální (cs), zákonný (cs)
• Dutch: juridisch (nl)
• Finnish: lainmukainen (fi), juridinen (fi)
• Friulian: legâl
• Galician: legal (gl)
• German: juristisch (de), rechtlich (de)
• Greek: νομικός (el) (nomikós)
• Hebrew: משפטי (mishpati)
• Italian: legale (it)
• Japanese: 法律の (ja) (hōritsu no)
• Korean: 법률(法律) (ko) (beomnyul)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: законски m (zakonski)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rettslig

• Polish: prawny (pl), legalny (pl)
• Portuguese: legal (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro), juridic (ro)
• Russian: правоме́рный (ru) (pravomérnyj), зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj)
• Sicilian: ligali
• Slovak: právny, legálny, zákonný
• Slovene: praven
• Spanish: legal (es)
• Swedish: rättsligt (sv)
• Turkish: yasal (tr)
• Ukrainian: зако́нний (zakónnyj), правомі́рний (pravomírnyj)
• Venetan: łegałe

allowed or prescribed by law

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: قَانُونِيّ (ar) (qānūniyy)

  Hijazi Arabic: قانوني (qānūni, gānūni)

• Armenian: օրինական (hy) (ōrinakan)
• Asturian: llegal
• Azerbaijani: qanuni
• Basque: legezko
• Belarusian: зако́нны (zakónny), лега́льны (ljehálʹny)
• Bulgarian: зако́нен (bg) (zakónen), лега́лен (bg) (legálen)
• Catalan: legal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 合法 (zh) (héfǎ)

• Czech: legální (cs), zákonný (cs)
• Danish: lovlig (da), legal
• Dutch: wettelijk (nl), legaal (nl), wettig (nl), legitiem (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭleĝa, leĝa
• Estonian: seaduslik (et)
• Finnish: laillinen (fi), lakisääteinen (fi)
• French: légal (fr)
• Friulian: legâl
• Galician: legal (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: legal (de)
• Greek: νόμιμος (el) (nómimos)

  Ancient: ἔννομος (énnomos)

• Hebrew: חוקי (ḥuki)
• Hungarian: törvényes (hu)
• Icelandic: löglegur (is)
• Indonesian: legal (id)
• Irish: dleathach
• Italian: legale (it)
• Japanese: 合法 (ja) (gōhō), 法に則った (hō ni nottotta)
• Khmer: តាមច្បាប់ (taam cbap), ស្របច្បាប់ (srɑɑp cbap)
• Korean: 합법적인 (hapbeopjeogin)
• Latin: lēgitimus (la)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: законски m (zakonski)
• Mongolian: хууль ёсны (xuulʹ josny)
• Ngazidja Comorian: -a sharia
• Norman: légal
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lovlig (no), legal (no)

• Old English: ǣwlīċ
• Polish: legalny (pl), zgodny z prawem, prawowity (pl), pełnomocny
• Portuguese: legal (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro)
• Russian: зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj), лега́льный (ru) (legálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: zakonit (sh), legalan (sh)
• Sicilian: ligali
• Slovene: zakonit
• Spanish: legal (es)
• Swahili: halali (sw)
• Swedish: laglig (sv), legal (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: ཁྲིམས་མཐུན (khrims mthun)
• Turkish: yasal (tr), meşru (tr), kanuni (tr)
• Ukrainian: зако́нний (zakónnyj), лега́льний (lehálʹnyj)
• Venetan: łegałe
• Vietnamese: hợp pháp (vi)
• Welsh: cyfreithlon (cy)

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

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} laŭleĝa, ^{(please verify)} legala
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} hukum (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} legal

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

• legal-size

Anagrams

• Galle, egall

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ləˈɣal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [leˈɣal]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legals)

1. legal

   Antonym: il·legal

Derived terms

• legalitzar
• legalment

Related terms

• legalitat
• llei
• lleial

Further reading

• “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

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

Inflection of legal

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite 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

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

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “legal”): illegal

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞ɑɫ]

• 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

• legalmente

See also

• lícito

German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [leːˈɡaːl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

legal (strong nominative masculine singular legaler, not comparable)

1. legal

   Antonym: illegal

Declension

Positive forms of legal (uncomparable)

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

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

Indonesian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛɡal/ [ˈlɛ.ɡal]
• Rhymes: -ɛɡal
• Syllabification: le‧gal

Adjective

legal

1. legal, allowed or prescribed by law.

Derived terms

• dilegalkan
• melegalkan

 

Related terms

• legalisasi
• lègalitas

 

Further reading

• “legal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /leˈɡaw/ [leˈɡaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɨˈɡal/ [lɨˈɣaɫ]

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

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: le‧gal

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

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:legal.

Derived terms

• legalmente
• legalzão

 

Related terms

• ilegal
• legalidade

 

Romanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	legal		legală		legali	legale
	definite	legalul		legala		legalii	legalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	legal		legale		legali	legale
	definite	legalului		legalei		legalelor	legalilor

Related terms

• legalitate
• legitim

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞al]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: le‧gal

Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legales)

1. legal, statutory

   Antonym: ilegal

2. lawful
3. (colloquial) legit

   Synonym: legítimo

Derived terms

• a efectos legales
• alegal
• cuerpo legal
• de curso legal
• depósito legal
• interés legal
• legalismo
• legalista
• legalmente
• medicina legal
• vacío legal

 

Related terms

• ilegal
• legalidad
• ley

 

Further reading

• “legal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin legalis.

Adjective

legal (not comparable)

1. legal

Declension

Inflection of legal

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	legal	—	—
neuter singular	legalt	—	—
plural	legala	—	—
masculine plural2	legale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	legale	—	—
all	legala	—	—

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.

Related terms

• illegal
• legalitet
• legitim

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• ligal

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/ [lɛˈɣal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: le‧gal

Adjective

legál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜄᜎ᜔)

1. legal

Related terms

• legalidad
• legalisa
• legalisado

 

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, from Latin lēgālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

Adjective

legal

1. legal (being allowed or prescribed by law)

   Synonym: yasal

   Antonyms: illegal, yasa dışı