1. law-related: relating to the law or to courts of law took legal action
2. of or for lawyers: relating to lawyers or to law as a profession
3. permitted by law: allowed under the law Parking on the grass isn't legal.
4. under law: established under the law, or by common law or legislation the legal age of consent
5. established by law court: recognized or established by a court of law, rather than a court of equity
6. old enough under law: older than a minimum age established by law for some activities such as driving
(
informal
)
[15th century. Via French< Latin legalis< leg- "law"]
le·gal·ly adverb
Word History
The Latin stem leg- "law," from which legal is derived, is also the source of English colleague, college, delegate, legacy, legate, legislate, legitimate, loyal, privilege, and relegate.
legal established or allowed under the law;
It is perfectly legal to charge a reasonable interest rate on unpaid accounts. Your spouse will still have a legal right to inherit from you. lawful a less common word meaning legal;
The rate increases were found to be reasonable and lawful. He believed he had lawful authority to ride the bike. decriminalized no longer categorized as a criminal offense;
decriminalized activities legalized previously categorized as illegal and now declared legal;
casino-style and other legalized gambling legitimate complying with the law, or having official status defined by law;
claimed the deposit was a legitimate business transaction legitimate travel documents licit allowed by law;
What had been licit and reasonably commonplace practices were now forbidden.
