# legal
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈliː.ɡəl/
* Rhymes: -iːɡəl
* (US) IPA: /ˈliɡəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: le‧gal

### Adjective

legal (comparative more legal, superlative most legal)
* 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
* Having its basis in the law.
    legal precedent
* Being established, permitted, required 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
* Following the rules or syntax of a system, such as a game or a programming language.
    If you have no legal move, but are not in check the game is a draw.
** 2021, John V. Guttag, Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python, Third Edition, page 7:Programming languages are designed so that each legal program has exactly one meaning
* (informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.
** 2012 September 18, Sandra Brown, Low Pressure, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:"Is she even legal? Shame on you, diddlin' a girl too young to buy beer. You being a church deacon and all." If looks could kill, Dale would be dead.
** 2024 April 18, Ayin Quijano, Bottoms Up, Boracay (Season 2 Amihan), Ayin Quijano:"Is she even legal? She looks like a minor." Elias whispers back, "Of course. I checked her passport. She's 20. What do you take me for? Be nice. I like her." I immediately smile at the girl behind Elias, […]
* Permitting the use and/or sale of cannabis; in which cannabis is lawful.
** 2016 January 30, Jasper Stohner, 101 Money Making Methods in the Marijuana Madness Movement of 2016, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 45:Whether you're interested in opening a retail marijuana store in a legal state or if you're interested in investing in someone or a company, which is operating in a legal state, there are […]
** 2019 September 13, Tracy Ferrell, Migrating for Medical Marijuana: Pioneers in a New Frontier of Treatment, McFarland, →ISBN, page 160:[Because] marijuana is still a federally illegal drug, using the drug in a child's presence, even in a legal state, could thus be construed as child abuse.
* (US, Canada) (of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) (also legal-size).

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “allowed”): banned, contraband, disallowed, forbidden, illegal, outlawed, unlawful
* (antonym(s) of “concerning law”): black-market, back-alley
* (antonym(s) of “over age of consent”): underage

#### Coordinate terms

* (law): equitable

#### Derived terms

* antilegal
* chief legal officer
* counterlegal
* cyberlegal
* dentolegal
* extralegal
* hyperlegal
* intralegal
* juridico-legal
* lagger
* legal action
* legal advice
* legal age
* legal agreement
* legal aid
* legal assistant
* legal beagle
* legal blindness
* legal cap
* legal capacity
* legal certainty
* legal chemistry
* legal code
* legal consequence
* legal cynicism
* legal duty
* legal eagle
* legal effect
* legal entity
* legal-ese
* legalese
* legal fiction
* legal gap
* legal gender
* legal height
* legal heir
* legal high
* legal hold
* legal holiday
* legal instrument
* legal interest
* legalise
* Legalism
* legalism
* legalist
* legalistic
* legalitarian
* legality
* legalize
* legally
* legal name
* legalness
* legal notice
* legal pad
* legal person
* legal positivism
* legal professional privilege
* legal recourse
* legal relationship
* legal remedy
* legal representative
* legal separation
* legal sex
* legalspeak
* legal studies
* legal system
* legaltech
* legal tender
* legal vacuum
* legal void
* medicolegal
* metalegal
* nonlegal
* paralegal
* politicolegal
* postlegal
* prelegal
* preterlegal
* pseudolegal
* psycholegal
* quasilegal
* semilegal
* sociolegal
* sociopoliticolegal
* street-legal
* sublegal
* supralegal
* ultralegal

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

legal (countable and uncountable, plural legals)
* (uncountable, informal) The legal department of a company.
    Legal wants this in writing.
* (uncountable, US, Canada) Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).
* (countable) A spy who is attached to, and ostensibly employed by, an embassy, military outpost, etc.
* (countable, informal, US) Somebody who immigrated lawfully.
    Antonyms: illegal, undocumented

#### Derived terms

* legal-size

### Anagrams

* Galle, egall

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis. Compare the inherited doublet lleial.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ləˈɣal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [leˈɣal]
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legals)
* legal
    Antonym: il·legal

#### Derived terms

* legalitzar
* legalment

#### Related terms

* legalitat
* llei
* lleial

### Further reading

* “legal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “legal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “legal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “legal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Chavacano
### Etymology

Inherited from Spanish legal.

### Adjective

legál
* legal

## Danish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leɡaːl/, [leˈɡ̊æːˀl]

### Adjective

legal
* legal (something that conforms to or is according to law)
* legitimate (conforming to accepted rules)

#### Inflection

$^1$ 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

* (legal): lovlig
* (legitimate): legitim

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “legal”): illegal

## Galician
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lēgālis. Compare leal.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞ɑɫ]
* IPA: (standard) /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞ɑɫ]
* IPA: (gheada) /leˈħal/ [leˈħɑɫ]
* Rhymes: -al
* Hyphenation: le‧gal

### Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais)
* legal (having its basis in the law)
    Antonym: ilegal

#### Derived terms

* legalmente

### See also

* lícito

## German
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [leːˈɡaːl]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -aːl

### Adjective

legal (strong nominative masculine singular legaler, not comparable)
* legal
    Antonym: illegal

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “legal” in Duden online
* “legal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Indonesian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch legaal (“legal”), from French légal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Indonesian) IPA: /ˈlɛɡal/ [ˈlɛ.ɡal]
* Rhymes: -ɛɡal
* Syllabification: le‧gal

### Adjective

legal
* legal, allowed or prescribed by law.

#### Derived terms

* dilegalkan
* melegalkan

#### Related terms

* legalisasi
* lègalitas

### Further reading

* “legal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“legal”), from lēx (“law”). Doublet of leal, inherited from the same source.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /leˈɡaw/ [leˈɡaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /lɨˈɡal/ [lɨˈɣaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /lɨˈɡal/ [lɨˈɣaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /lɨˈɡa.li/ [lɨˈɣa.li]
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
* Hyphenation: le‧gal

### Adjective

legal m or f (plural legais, comparable, comparative mais legal, superlative o mais legal or legalíssimo)
* legal
    Synonym: lícito
    Antonym: ilegal
* (Brazil, colloquial) cool, nice, good
    Synonym: (Portugal) fixe
    Antonym: chato

#### Quotations

* For quotations using this term, see Citations:legal.

#### Derived terms

* legalmente
* legalzão

#### Related terms

* ilegal
* legalidade

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, Latin legalis. By surface analysis, lege +‎ -al. Doublet of loial.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leˈɡal/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

legal m or n (feminine singular legală, masculine plural legali, feminine and neuter plural legale)
* legal, lawful
    Synonym: licit
    Antonyms: ilegal, ilicit

#### Related terms

* legalitate
* legitim

## Spanish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leˈɡal/ [leˈɣ̞al]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: le‧gal

### Adjective

legal m or f (masculine and feminine plural legales)
* legal
    Synonym: ilegal
* statutory
    Synonyms: estatutario, reglamentario
* lawful
* (colloquial) legit
    Synonym: legítimo

#### Derived terms

* a efectos legales
* alegal
* cuerpo legal
* de curso legal
* depósito legal
* interés legal
* legalismo
* legalista
* legalmente
* medicina legal
* vacío legal

#### Related terms

* ilegal
* legalidad
* ley

### Further reading

* “legal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin legalis.

### Adjective

legal (not comparable)
* legal

#### Declension

$^1$ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. $^2$ Dated or archaic. $^3$ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

#### Related terms

* illegal
* legalitet
* legitim

## Tagalog
### Alternative forms

* ligal — superseded, pre-2014

### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish legal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of leal.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /leˈɡal/ [lɛˈɣal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: le‧gal

### Adjective

legál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜄᜎ᜔)
* legal

#### Related terms

* alegasyon
* alegato
* delegado
* delegasyon
* desleal
* deslealtad
* ilegal
* ilegalidad
* ilehitimo
* kolega
* kolehiyala
* kolehiyo
* leal
* lealista
* lealtad
* legado
* legalidad
* legalisa
* legalisado
* legasyon
* lehislador
* lehislasyon
* lehislatura
* lehitimo
* ley
* ley fuga
* mediko-legal
* pribilehiyo

### Further reading

* “legal”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
* “legal”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

## Turkish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French légal, from Latin lēgālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leˈɡal/

### Adjective

legal
* legal (being allowed or prescribed by law)
    Synonym: yasal
    Antonyms: illegal, yasa dışı