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legal

Etymology and origin of the English word legal

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1447 (Bokenham's Legends of Holy Women)
Borrowed from
Middle French légal
Ultimate origin
Latin (lēx)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈliː.ɡəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French légal or directly borrowed from Latin lēgālis (“pertaining to the law”),[2][3][4] from lēx (“law”), genitive lēgis,[2][5] probably related to legere (“to gather”), as a collection of rules,[2][6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).[2][5] The usual Old French form of the word was leial, loial, the source of loyal and leal, so legal and loyal are doublets.[2][3] It is not related to law.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the law: the mid-15th century,[2] 1447 in Bokenham's Legends of Holy Women.[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1529.[8]

Semantic evolution

“Required or appointed by law” is from 1610,[8] and “permitted by law” from the 1640s.[2] Something belonging to the legal profession is legal from 1819.[8] Legal tender is from 1740[2][8] and legal holiday from 1867.[2] Legal beagle and legal eagle, rhyming names for a lawyer, are from 1949.[8] The noun, something that conforms to rules or laws, is from 1526.[6]

Timeline

  • 1447 – relating to law.[3]
  • 1526 – noun.[6]
  • 1610 – required by law.[8]
  • 1640s – permitted by law.[2]
  • 1740 – legal tender.[2][8]
  • 1819 – of the legal profession.[8]
  • 1949 – legal eagle.[8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Relating to the law or to lawyers.
  2. Permitted by law; lawful.
  3. Established or required by law.

Noun

  1. Something that conforms to the rules.

Word family

  • legally
  • legal-size
  • loyal
  • leal
  • legislate
  • legitimate
  • privilege
  • legacy
  • illegal
  • legality

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Legal.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/legal. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·