What does legal mean?

Definitions for legal
ˈli gəlle·gal

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word legal.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. legaladjective

    established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules

  2. legaladjective

    of or relating to jurisprudence

    "legal loophole"

  3. legal, sound, effectualadjective

    having legal efficacy or force

    "a sound title to the property"

  4. legaladjective

    relating to or characteristic of the profession of law

    "the legal profession"

  5. legaladjective

    allowed by official rules

    "a legal pass receiver"

Wiktionary

  1. legalnoun

    Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).

  2. legaladjective

    Relating to the law or to lawyers, as in legal profession.

  3. legaladjective

    Having its basis in the law, such as legal precedent.

  4. legaladjective

    Being allowed or prescribed by law, such as a legal motion.

  5. legaladjective

    Above the age of consent, most often concerning attractive but young adolescent girls.

  6. Etymology: From legalis, from lex.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. LEGALadjective

    Etymology: legal, French; leges, Latin.

    Whatsoever was before, was before time of memory; and what is since is, in a legal sense, within the time of memory. Matthew Hale, Hist. of the Common Law of England.

    His merits
    To save them, not their own, though legal, works. John Milton.

Wikipedia

  1. legal

    Legal is a song recorded by Canadian reggae singer Snow. It was released in October 2002 as the first single from his 2002 album, Two Hands Clapping.

ChatGPT

  1. legal

    Legal refers to something that is related to or governed by the law. It refers to actions, processes, or decisions that are permitted or required by the law, as opposed to those that are illegal or contrary to the law. Legal rights and obligations are based on laws and regulations established by governmental bodies or other legal authorities. Legal matters typically involve issues such as contracts, regulations, rights, responsibilities, and the enforcement of laws by legal authorities such as courts and law enforcement agencies.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Legaladjective

    created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test; a legal procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything is legal which the laws do not forbid

  2. Legaladjective

    according to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation

  3. Legaladjective

    according to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in accordance with the law of Moses

  4. Legaladjective

    governed by the rules of law as distinguished from the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Legal

    lē′gal, adj. pertaining to, or according to, law: lawful: created by law: (theol.) according to the Mosaic law or dispensation.—n. Lē′galisātion.—v.t. Lē′galise, to make legal or lawful: to authorise: to sanction.—ns. Lē′galism, strict adherence to law: (theol.) the doctrine that salvation depends on strict adherence to the law, as distinguished from the doctrine of salvation by grace: the tendency to observe the letter rather than the spirit of religious law; Lē′galist; Legal′ity.—adv. Lē′gally.—Legal tender, that which can be lawfully used in paying a debt. [Fr.,—L. legalislex, legis, law.]

The New Hacker's Dictionary

  1. legal

    Loosely used to mean ‘in accordance with all the relevant rules’, esp. in connection with some set of constraints defined by software. “The older =+ alternate for += is no longer legal syntax in ANSI C.” “This parser processes each line of legal input the moment it sees the trailing linefeed.” Hackers often model their work as a sort of game played with the environment in which the objective is to maneuver through the thicket of ‘natural laws’ to achieve a desired objective. Their use of legal is flavored as much by this game-playing sense as by the more conventional one having to do with courts and lawyers. Compare language lawyer, legalese.

Rap Dictionary

  1. legal

    Thoughts On Stem Cell Research This is a very 'hot button' issue that keeps arising in the face of politicians everywhere in the country. What if anything should the government involve itself in for the issues of stem cell research? How far should the government press into the fields of medical science research? Should the government interfere at all, or stand back and come up with laws to handle the consequences of such research? It comes into question, how many ordinary Americans really know and understand what stem cell research is, how it can effect our lives, and what does it have the ability to do in the future? With topics such as abortion being very hot and causing pressures on all sides, it only seems natural that stem cell research should cause just as much controversy. Many supporters argue that the research gathered will be able to save millions of lives, while those opposing the research all argue that they are killing thousands of innocent children in the process. This brings the question, where do the embryos come from? The majority of the embryos used in the research come from couples that have donated them, following a treatment for infertility; there are often 10 or more embryos left over after such procedures, which can be put to use in the laboratory environment. The options for those embryos are limited; they can be preserved, adopted to a needy couple, destroyed, or donated to medical research. The embryos are only a few mere days past conception when they are frozen, and are unable to sustain life in any form on their own. From a legal standpoint, they are not living humans, and are not an infant since legally an embryo becomes an infant once the first breath of air is taken. This leaves the questions of who has the right to determine what can happen to them. The embryos are the building blocks of people, yet, they have no rights themselves. Whom do they belong to? Who is responsible for ensuring they are taken care of? Many consider the embryos being used in research as the same category as murder. Is it actually murder when the child is never born, and is only conceived in a test tube? Who should really make the decision about how these embryos should be handled? The embryos themselves are rich in stem cells, which scientists have said can help cure some of the worst diseases and conditions in the world. This makes the concept very tempting, but is this dabbling in aspects of science that shouldn't be used? Should humans really be trying to recreate whole body parts and organs from the stem cells in order to help a few, but at the expense of a few other lives? The current administration has tried to place a ban on this research and block the use of the embryos. This has upset many supporters who feel this research is vital to the survival of the human race, while those who digress the ideas are upset that is has not been banned fully yet. Where is the better side to stand? Should we allow the government to meddle into the scientific aspects of medicine, or should we continue the research to save thousands, or millions of lives? Immigration Lawyers In London Divorce Lawyers In London Lawyer In London London Services

Editors Contribution

  1. legal

    Relating to accurate and specific law or legislation.

    The legal professionals were all attentive, focused and just.


    Submitted by MaryC on December 20, 2019  

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. LEGAL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Legal is ranked #93513 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Legal surname appeared 196 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Legal.

    72.4% or 142 total occurrences were White.
    11.7% or 23 total occurrences were Black.
    10.2% or 20 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    5.6% or 11 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'legal' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #735

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'legal' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1602

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'legal' in Adjectives Frequency: #87

How to pronounce legal?

How to say legal in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of legal in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of legal in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of legal in a Sentence

  1. Hayden Lawrence:

    The company is dealing with some real challenges, whether you have the legal and regulatory backdrop … and we have a macroeconomic backdrop that is at best uncertain.

  2. Richard Neal:

    I am certain we are within our legitimate legislative, legal and oversight rights.

  3. Justice Antonin Scalia:

    The Declaration of Independence, however, is not a legal prescription conferring powers upon the courts; and the Constitution's refusal to deny or disparage other rights is far removed from affirming any one of them, and even farther removed from authorizing judges to identify what they might be, and to enforce the judges' list against laws duly enacted by the people.

  4. Elizabeth Warren:

    That is corruption right at the heart of this government, how it could even be legal, that Goldman Sachs could offer a pre-bribe to somebody like Gary Cohn ?

  5. Eric Hasham:

    The biggest problem is asking people to sign (up to) a different legal system.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

legal#1#546#10000

Translations for legal

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for legal »

Translation

Find a translation for the legal definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"legal." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/legal>.

Discuss these legal definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • Nani Lucky Lovely Prasad
    Nani Lucky Lovely Prasad
    Hi
    LikeReply4 years ago

Are we missing a good definition for legal? Don't keep it to yourself...

Free, no signup required:

Add to Chrome

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Free, no signup required:

Add to Firefox

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Browse Definitions.net

Quiz

Are you a words master?

»
come out into view, as from concealment
A restore
B distinguish
C interrogate
D emerge

Nearby & related entries:

Alternative searches for legal: