Legal Forms and Documents Online. Fast, Reliable, and Affordable.
www.LegalZoom.com
le⋅gal
[lee-guh
l]
| 1. | permitted by law; lawful: Such acts are not legal. |
| 2. | of or pertaining to law; connected with the law or its administration: the legal profession. |
| 3. | appointed, established, or authorized by law; deriving authority from law. |
| 4. | recognized by law rather than by equity. |
| 5. | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the profession of law or of lawyers: a legal mind. |
| 6. | Theology.
|
| 7. | a person who acts in a legal manner or with legal authority. |
| 8. | an alien who has entered a country legally. |
| 9. | a person whose status is protected by law. |
| 10. | a fish or game animal, within specified size or weight limitations, that the law allows to be caught and kept during an appropriate season. |
| 11. | a foreigner who conducts espionage against a host country while working there in a legitimate capacity, often in the diplomatic service. |
| 12. | legals, authorized investments that may be made by fiduciaries, as savings banks or trustees. |
Related forms:
3. licit, legitimate, sanctioned.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Legal
Le"gal\ (l[=e]"gal), a. [L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law; prob. orig., that which lies or is fixed (cf. L. lectus bed), and if so akin to E. lie, law: cf. F. l['e]gal. Cf. Lie to be prostrate, Loyal, Leal.]1. 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. (Theol.) (a) According to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation. (b) According to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in accordance with the law of Moses. 3. (Law) Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets. --Bouvier. --Burrill. Legal cap. See under Cap. Legal tender. (a) The act of tendering in the performance of a contract or satisfaction of a claim that which the law prescribes or permits, and at such time and place as the law prescribes or permits. (b) That currency, or money, which the law authorizes a debtor to tender and requires a creditor to receive. It differs in different countries. Syn: Lawful; constitutional; legitimate; licit; authorized. See Lawful.Cite This Source
legal
adj. 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.Cite This Source
legal
Cite This Source
LEGAL
- A New York Stock Exchange data bank of enforcement actions, investor complaints, and member audits.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Main Entry: le·gal
Pronunciation: 'lE-g&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin legalis, from leg- lex law
1 : of or relating to law or the processes of law legal question>
2 a : deriving authority from or founded on law legal tariff rate> legal government> b : fulfilling the requirements of law legal voter> c : having a status derived from law : recognized as such by law legal certainty> d : created by operation of esp. statutory law <legal incompetence> legal presumption> —compare CONVENTIONAL 1, JUDICIAL 2 e : established by law
3 : conforming to or permitted by law : LAWFUL legal>
4 : recognized or made effective under principles of law as distinguished from principles of equity : deriving from or existing or valid in law as distinguished from equity —see also EQUITY —compare EQUITABLE
5 a : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or one of its members legal department>
Cite This Source
legal
Loosely used to mean "in accordance with all the relevant rules", especially 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 flavoured as much by this game-playing sense as by the more conventional one having to do with courts and lawyers. Compare language lawyer, legalese.
[The Jargon File]
Cite This Source
Process Serving, Court Filings Mobile Photocopy/Digital Imaging
www.BoscoLegal.org
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

