legalize

Etymology

It is formed from English legal + -ize.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Legal is from Old French légal or its source, Latin lēgālis (“pertaining to the law”),^[3][7][2] from lēx (“law”), which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary connect with Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).^[3][7] Johnson (1755) derived the verb from French légaliser.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In theology, to make a person or thing conform to the law of Moses, or to reduce the gospel to a system of law: 1635, in David Dickson's commentary on Hebrews.^[2] The usual modern sense follows in 1652, in William Sancroft's Modern Policies.^[2] The first OED dated the word to before 1716,^[9] and Etymonline and Merriam-Webster to about 1716.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word began in 17th-century Protestant debate, for turning Christianity into a matter of keeping the law,^[2] a sense that Black's Law Dictionary still gives as imbuing something with the spirit of law.^[10] The OED now labels it rare.^[2] The general sense, to make something lawful or give it the authority of law, appeared almost at once and is now the usual one.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to authorize; to make lawful".^[8] In the 20th century the verb became common in calls to allow by law what had been banned, such as prizefighting, divorce or marijuana,^[4][11][10] and Barry Popik records the slogan Legalize freedom of the American Libertarian Party from 1974.^[12] Merriam-Webster also has the sense of authenticating a document or signature.^[4] The noun legalization is recorded from 1704.^[2]

Timeline

• 1635 – in theology, to make conform to the law of Moses.^[2]
• 1652 – to make lawful; to sanction by law.^[2] The first OED dated it to before 1716.^[9]
• 1653 – intransitive, to return to legalism (obsolete).^[2]
• 1704 – legalization.^[2]
• 1855 – intransitive, to practise as a lawyer (obsolete).^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make legal or lawful; to permit by law something that was forbidden: The state legalized gambling in 1990.^{[11][4][2][10]}
2. To give legal force or sanction to; to confirm or validate.^[4][11][2]
3. To authenticate a document or a signature on it.^[4]
4. (theology, rare) To reduce religion to the keeping of a law; to make legalistic.^[2][10]

Word family

• legalization
• legalizer
• unlegalized
• delegalize

Related words

• legal
• legalism
• loyal
• legitimate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Legalize freedom—vote Libertarian", 20 December 2012