Etymologically
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legalis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɫeːˈɡaː.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [leˈɡaː.lis][1]

Forms

lēgālis (neuter lēgāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lēx (“law”) + -ālis.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian uses it of legal questions and of the legal kind of inquiry.[4][5] Köbler dates Quintilian about 35–95/96 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant of or concerned with law, legal, a post-Augustan word that the TLL notes was rarer in prose than legitimus.[2][4][3] Quintilian renders Plato's nomothetikē as the pars legalis, legislation.[5][7] Tertullian uses it of a life lived according to the divine law, pious.[4][5]

In medieval Latin it meant legal, juridical, ruled by secular as opposed to church law, and dies legalis was a law day.[8][9] In British sources a legalis homo was a lawworthy man.[6] It lies behind French loyal and Italian leale.[1] English legal came from Old French or Latin in the mid-15th century, while loyal came from French in the 1530s and leal about 1300.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of legal questions.[4][6]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a pious life.[4][6]
  • c. 1300 – English leal is recorded.[10]
  • mid-15th century – English legal is recorded.[10]
  • 1530s – English loyal is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or concerned with law, legal.[2][1]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) According to the divine law, pious.[4][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Lawful, legalis homo, a lawworthy man.[8][6]

Word family

  • illēgālis
  • lex
  • legitimus
  • English legal
  • English loyal
  • English leal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com