Etymologically
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legal

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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