I. ˈlēgəl sometimes ˈlig- adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin legalis of or relating to law, from leg-, lex law (probably originally meaning a collection) + -alis -al; probably akin to Latin legere to gather, select — more at legend
1.
a. : according with the Mosaic law
b. : of, relating to, or based on the doctrine of salvation through works rather than by grace
2. : of or relating to law
may request … an advisory opinion on any legal question — U.N. Charter
the question of control was a legal one which should not have been submitted to the jury — D.N.Edelstein
legal textbooks
3.
a. : deriving authority from law : founded upon law : de jure
a legal government
the duly constituted and legal successors of the ancien régime
— compare legitimate , political
b. : having a formal status derived from or as if from law often without a basis in actual fact : titular
an artificial legal difference — F.D.Roosevelt
c. : established by law ; especially : statutory
the legal test of mental capacity — K.C.Masteller
4. : conforming to or permitted by law or established rules (as of a game) : according to the principles of law : conforming to the procedures and methods prescribed by law
an enterprise which is not only legal for positivists but positively enjoined by their creed — W.P.Alston
their action was made regular and legal — J.R.Green
— compare constitutional
5. : recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity : existing or valid in law as distinguished from equity — compare equitable 2
6. : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members
a bottle … that some legal friend had sent him — J.G.Cozzens
stood in legal gravity — Hamlin Garland
surprised to hear it from a legal gentleman — Ellen Wilkinson
7.
a. : created by the constructions of the law
passed her life in a kind of legal childhood — Charles Dickens
a legal fiction
b. : recognized as such by law
as a legal woman … she could presumably marry — Norman Ober
8. : arising by operation of law as distinguished from that which arises by agreement or act of the parties
a legal hypothec
— compare conventional 1a
Synonyms: see lawful
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a requirement or right established by law ; especially : legal reversion
2. : a paid advertisement in a newspaper consisting of matter required by law or ordinance to be made public
3. or legal investment : a class of securities in which trustees, savings banks, and other investors regulated by law may legally invest