illegal

A2 Topic:Law & Government

US /ɪˈli.ɡəl/ UK /ɪˈliːɡəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #2247

Meanings

1

adj
Not allowed by the law.

It is illegal to drive without a licence.
2

adj
Forbidden by the rules of a game or activity.

Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not allowed by the law. unlawful illicit criminal

2 adj · forbidden by the rules of a... banned forbidden prohibited

Word family

Forms illegals

Derived forms illegalisationillegaliseillegalismillegalistillegalizeillegalness

Etymology

Borrowed from French illégal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin legalis, by surface analysis, il- + legal. In senses relating to immigration, via clipping of illegal alien or illegal immigrant.

illégal French illegalis la-med legalis Latin

View etymology graph ->

External links

# illegal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɪˈli.ɡəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪˈliːɡəl/
**Frequency rank:** 2247

## Meanings
1. Not allowed by the law.
2. Forbidden by the rules of a game or activity.

## Examples
- It is illegal to drive without a licence.
- Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess.

## Derived Forms
- illegalisation
- illegalise
- illegalism
- illegalist
- illegalize
- illegalness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: illégal
- Root: illegalis
- Root: legalis
- Affix: il- - not

## Etymology
Borrowed from French illégal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin legalis, by surface analysis, il- + legal. In senses relating to immigration, via clipping of illegal alien or illegal immigrant.

## AI Etymology
Illegal is borrowed from French illégal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin legalis, by surface analysis, il- + legal. In senses relating to immigration, via clipping of illegal alien or illegal immigrant. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named elements. In current use, the main senses are “Not allowed by the law” and “Forbidden by the rules of a game or activity”.

## Topics
- Law & Government

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illegal

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