US /ˈli.ɡəl/ UK /ˈliː.ɡəl/
adj Freq #1869

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Allowed or required by law.

    It is not legal to drive without a licence.

  2. 2
    adj

    Relating to the law or to lawyers.

    She needs legal advice about the contract.

  3. 3
    adj

    Following the rules of a system, such as a game.

    If you have no legal move but are not in check, the game is a draw.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · allowed or required by law. lawfullegitimatelicit
Word family
Derived forms antilegalcounterlegalcyberlegaldentolegalextralegalhyperlegalintralegaljuridico-legallaggerlegal-eselegal-sizelegalese

Common collocations

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of loyal and leal.

View etymology graph ->

Topics

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