legal

See also: Legal, légal, and legâl

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)

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 allowed 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. (informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.

Antonyms

Derived terms
Derived terms

Translations
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 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.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal (masculine and feminine plural legals)

  1. legal
    Antonym: il·legal

Derived terms

Further reading

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
Common singular legal — —2
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

Antonyms

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.

Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais)

  1. legal (having its basis in the law)

Antonyms

Derived terms

See also

German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [leːˈɡaːl]
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

legal (not comparable)

  1. legal

Declension
Declension of legal
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
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

Antonyms

Further reading

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais, comparable)

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

Quotations

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:legal.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, Latin legalis.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /leˈɡal/

Adjective

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

  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

Antonyms

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /leˈɡal/, [leˈɣal]

Adjective

legal (plural legales)

  1. legal
    Antonym: ilegal

Derived terms

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin legalis.

Adjective

legal (not comparable)

  1. legal

Declension
Inflection of legal
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular legal — —
Neuter singular legalt — —
Plural legala — —
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 legale — —
All legala — —
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
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