English
legal
Legal is a learned borrowing of Latin lēgālis ‘legal’, from lēx ‘law’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēks1‘law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēx1‘law’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēgālis1‘legal’
- Englishearliest quotation 1992legal1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English legal
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, Michael Granberry, Vanishing Act: Animals: A world without the homely rhino? […: “In South Africa, it’s still legal to “trophy hunt”…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēksWiktionary, English legal‘law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēxWiktionary, English legal‘law’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēgālisWiktionary, English legal‘legal’
- Englishearliest quotation 1992legalWiktionary, English legal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, Michael Granberry, Vanishing Act: Animals: A world without the homely rhino? […: “In South Africa, it’s still legal to “trophy hunt”…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’
law, low, lie, fellow, lawyer, layer, log, litter, lair, ledger, ledge, lawless, lees, lig, underlay, leaguer, lias, lagan, 18 more
through Latin lex ‘law’
college, lay, colleague, legacy, delegation, lex, delegate, collegiate, disloyalty, collegium, relegate, legate, 6 more
through Latin lēgālis
loyalty, loyal, illegality, leal, 3 more
Today it means
adj Relating to the law or to lawyers.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “legal”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *lēks / legal