legal

legal
legal, lawful, legitimate, licit
1. All four words share the basic meaning ‘conforming to the law’. Something is legal when it is authorized by the law of the land, legitimate when it conforms to custom or common justice, and lawful (a more old-fashioned word) when it conforms to moral or divine law. Legal is the only choice in the neutral descriptive meaning ‘relating to the law’ (as in legal language), and legitimate alone has the meaning ‘born of married parents’. Licit, which means much the same as lawful, is the least used of all these words, although illicit is somewhat more common. See also illegal.
2. For legitimate as a verb, see legitimate, legitimize.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • légal — légal, ale, aux [ legal, o ] adj. • 1361; lat. imp. legalis, de lex, legis « loi » → loyal 1 ♦ Qui a valeur de loi, résulte de la loi, est conforme à la loi. ⇒ juridique, réglementaire. Dispositions légales. Formalités, formes légales, prescrites …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • legal — le·gal / lē gəl/ adj [Latin legalis, from leg lex law] 1: of or relating to law or the processes of law a legal question take legal action 2 a: deriving authority from or founded on law a legal tariff rate a legal government …   Law dictionary

  • légal — légal, ale (lé gal, ga l ) adj. 1°   Qui est prescrit par la loi. Formalités légales.    Qui est selon la loi. Voies légales. Moyens légaux. •   Charles [1er, d Angleterre] avait des vertus domestiques, du courage, de la modération, de la probité …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • legal — LEGÁL, Ă, legali, e, adj. Care există sau se face în temeiul unei legi, care este prevăzut de o lege, este conform cu legea. – Din fr. légal, lat. legalis. Trimis de RACAI, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  Legal ≠ ilegal, nelegal Trimis de siveco,… …   Dicționar Român

  • Legal — Le gal (l[=e] gal), a. [L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law; prob. orig., that which lies or is fixed (cf. L. lectus bed), and if so akin to E. lie, law: cf. F. l[ e]gal. Cf. {Lie} to be prostrate, {Loyal}, {Leal}.] 1. Created by, permitted by, in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • legal — (Del lat. legālis). 1. adj. Prescrito por ley y conforme a ella. 2. Perteneciente o relativo a la ley o al derecho. 3. Verídico, puntual, fiel y recto en el cumplimiento de las funciones de su cargo. 4. coloq. Esp. Leal o formal en su… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • legal — [lē′gəl] adj. [MFr légal < L legalis < lex (gen. legis), law, prob. < IE base * leg̑ , to collect > L legere, Gr legein, to collect] 1. of, created by, based upon, or authorized by law 2. in conformity with the positive rules of law;… …   English World dictionary

  • Legal — bezeichnet eine Gesetzeskonformität, siehe Legalität ein heute noch in den USA und in Kanada benutztes Papierformat, siehe Legal (Papierformat) Legal ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Ernst Legal, Schauspieler Marga Legal, Schauspielerin… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • legal — Adj std. stil. (17. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus l. lēgālis, einer Ableitung von l. lēx (lēgis) Gesetzesvorschlag, Gesetz, Verordnung , vielleicht weiter zu l. legere (lēctum) lesen, ablesen, vorlesen , verwandt mit gr. légein zählen, berechnen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • legal — (adj.) mid 15c. of or pertaining to the law, from M.Fr. légal or directly from L. legalis legal, pertaining to the law, from lex (gen. legis) law, possibly related to legere to gather, on notion of a collection of rules (see LECTURE (Cf. lecture) …   Etymology dictionary

  • legal — adj. 2 g. 1. De lei. 2. Conforme com a lei, ou por ela prescrito. 3.  [Brasil, Informal] Que está em ordem. = CERTO, REGULARIZADO 4.  [Brasil, Informal] Que denota qualidades positivas (ex.: óculos legais, filme legal, garota legal, sugestão… …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

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