Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: French
Origin: Latin legalis, from lex 'law'

legal

 adjective
     
le‧gal S3 W1
1 if something is legal, you are allowed to do it or have to do it by law [≠ illegal]:
What the company has done is perfectly legal.
plans to make the carrying of identity cards a legal requirement
He had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream.
a pressure group that is campaigning to make cannabis legal.
2 [only before noun] concerned with or relating to the law:
a costly legal dispute
the Scottish legal system
3

legal action/proceedings

the use of the legal system to settle an argument, put right an unfair situation etc:
She threatened to take legal action against the hospital.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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