Etymologically
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legalization

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 17:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌliːɡ(ə)laɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌliːɡ(ə)lɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /ˌliːɡ(ə)ləˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English legalize + -ation;[2][3] the OED compares French légalisation, recorded from 1690.[2] The verb legalize is formed from legal and -ize,[2][3][4] and legal comes from Latin lēgālis (“pertaining to the law”), from lēx (“law”).[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of making something legal: 1704, in a pamphlet on the case of the ship Charles.[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1805,[3] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 19th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The noun has kept the single sense of its verb's usual meaning.[2] The verb legalize first meant, in 17th-century theology, to bring a person or the gospel under the Mosaic law (1635), and only from 1652 to make something lawful, now its usual sense;[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to authorize; to make lawful", deriving it from French.[6] Merriam-Webster also illustrates the noun with the legalizing of a document for use as evidence.[7]

Timeline

  • 1635 – the verb legalize, in a theological sense.[2]
  • 1652 – legalize, to make lawful.[2]
  • 1704 – legalization, the action of making legal.[2]
  • 1805 – legalization, in Etymonline's dating.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of making something legal or lawful, or the state of having been made legal: the legalization of street trading in the city centre.[7][2]
  2. The act of giving a document legal validity, as for use as evidence.[7]

Usage notes

The spelling legalisation is also used in British English.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster