legal

See also: Legal

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

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.

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

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

Translations

relating to the law or to lawyers

• Armenian: իրավական (iravakan)
• Asturian: llegal
• Catalan: legal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法律的 (fǎlǜ de)

• Czech: právní (cs)
• Dutch: juridisch (nl), rechts- (nl)
• Finnish: juridinen (fi), oikeudellinen (fi), laki-, lakimies-, lainopillinen
• French: légal (fr)
• German: juristisch (de), rechtlich (de)
• Greek: νομικός (el) (nomikós)
• Hebrew: משפטי (mishpati)
• Italian: legale (it), giuridico (it)

• Japanese: 法的な (hōteki-na)
• Jèrriais: légal
• Latin: legalis, legitimus (la)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: правен m (práven)
• Polish: prawniczy, prawny (pl)
• Portuguese: legal (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro)
• Russian: юриди́ческий (ru) (juridíčeskij), правово́й (ru) (pravovój)
• Slovene: pravniški
• Spanish: legal (es)
• Swedish: rättsligt (sv)
• Turkish: hukuki (tr), adli (tr), hukuksal (tr), tüzel (tr)

having its basis in the law

• Armenian: իրավական (iravakan)
• Asturian: llegal
• Catalan: legal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法定的 (fǎdìng de)

• Dutch: juridisch (nl)
• Finnish: lainmukainen, juridinen (fi)
• Galician: legal
• German: juristisch (de), rechtlich (de)
• Greek: νομικός (el) (nomikós)
• Hebrew: משפטי (mishpati)
• Hungarian: törvényes (hu)

• Italian: legale (it)
• Japanese: 法律の (hōritsu no)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: законски m (zákonski)
• Polish: prawniczy, prawny (pl)
• Portuguese: legal (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro), juridic (ro)
• Russian: правоме́рный (ru) (pravomérnyj), зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj)
• Slovene: praven
• Spanish: legal (es)
• Swedish: rättsligt (sv)
• Turkish: yasal (tr)

allowed or prescribed by law

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: قانوني (qanūniy)
• Armenian: օրինական (ōrinakan)
• Asturian: llegal
• Catalan: legal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 合法的 (héfǎ de)

• Czech: legální (cs), zákonný
• Danish: lovlig (da)
• Dutch: wettelijk (nl), legaal (nl), wettig (nl), legitiem (nl)
• Finnish: laillinen (fi), lakisääteinen
• French: légal (fr)
• Galician: lícito
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: legal (de)
• Greek: νόμιμος (el) (nómimos)
• Hebrew: חוקי ('huki)

• Hungarian: jogi (hu), törvényes (hu)
• Italian: legale (it)
• Japanese: 合法 (ja) (gōhō), 法に則った (hō-ni-notto-tta)
• Jèrriais: légal
• Korean: 합법적인 (hapbeopjeokin)
• Latin: legitimus (la)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Macedonian: законски m (zákonski)
• Polish: legalny (pl), zgodny z prawem m
• Portuguese: legal (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro)
• Russian: зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj), лега́льный (ru) (legálʹnyj)
• Slovene: zakonit
• Spanish: legal (es)
• Swedish: laglig (sv)
• Turkish: yasal (tr), meşru (tr), kanuni (tr)

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: laŭleĝa, legala
• Danish: juridisk

• Interlingua: legal
• Indonesian: hukum

Noun

legal (uncountable)

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

Derived terms

• legal-size

Statistics

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

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

Adjective

legal m, f (masculine and feminine plural legals)

1. legal

Antonyms

• il·legal

Derived terms

• legalment

Related terms

• legalitat
• llei
• lleial

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Danish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leɡaːl/, [leˈɡ̊æːˀl]

Adjective

legal (neuter legalt, definite and plural legale)

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

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• (legal): illegal

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin lēgālis.

Adjective

legal m, f (plural legais)

1. legal (having its basis in the law)

Antonyms

• ilegal

Derived terms

• legalmente

See also

• lícito

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German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [leˈɡaːl]

Adjective

legal

1. legal

Antonyms

• illegal

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Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

legal m, f (plural legais; comparable)

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

Synonyms

• (Portugal, cool): fixe

Antonyms

• (legal): ilegal
• (cool): chato

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Romanian

Etymology

From French légal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

Adjective

legal ^{4 nom/acc forms}

1. legal, lawful

Declension

declension of legal

		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	legalilor	legalelor

Synonyms

• licit

Antonyms

• ilegal
• ilicit

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Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡal/

Adjective

legal m, f (plural legales)

1. legal

Antonyms

• ilegal

Derived terms

• legalmente

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Swedish

Adjective

legal

1. legal

Declension

Declension of legal

Inflections of legal Comparation by mer and mest
Indefinite singular	Common	legal
	Neuter	legalt
Definite singular	Masc.	legale
	All	legala
Plural		legala

Related terms

• illegal
• legalitet
• legitim