Legal \Le"gal\ (l[=e]"gal), a. [L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law;
   prob. orig., that which lies or is fixed (cf. L. lectus bed),
   and if so akin to E. lie, law: cf. F. l['e]gal. Cf. Lie to
   be prostrate, Loyal, Leal.]
   1. Created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating
      to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test;
      a legal procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything
      is legal which the laws do not forbid.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Theol.)
      (a) According to the law of works, as distinguished from
          free grace; or resting on works for salvation.
      (b) According to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in
          accordance with the law of Moses.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. (Law) Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from
      the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets.
      --Bouvier. --Burrill.
      [1913 Webster]

   Legal cap. See under Cap.

   Legal tender.
      (a) The act of tendering in the performance of a contract
          or satisfaction of a claim that which the law
          prescribes or permits, and at such time and place as
          the law prescribes or permits.
      (b) That currency, or money, which the law authorizes a
          debtor to tender and requires a creditor to receive.
          It differs in different countries.

   Syn: Lawful; constitutional; legitimate; licit; authorized.
        See Lawful.
        [1913 Webster]

	

	legal
     adj 1: established by or founded upon law or official or accepted
            rules [ant: illegal]
     2: of or relating to jurisprudence; "legal loophole"
     3: having legal efficacy or force; "a sound title to the
        property" [syn: sound]
     4: relating to or characteristic of the profession of law; "the
        legal profession"
     5: allowed by official rules; "a legal pass receiver"

	

	85 Moby Thesaurus words for "legal":
   acceptable, actionable, admissible, allowable, applicable,
   authoritative, authorized, balanced, binding, booked, cogent,
   competent, consistent, constitutional, defensible, deserved,
   documented, down, due, enrolled, entered, equitable, even,
   evenhanded, fair, fair and square, filed, fit, forensic, good,
   indexed, inscribed, judicial, judiciary, juridical, just,
   justiciable, justifiable, justified, kosher, lawful, lawmaking,
   legislative, legit, legitimate, legitimized, level, licit, logged,
   logical, meet, meet and right, merited, minuted, of record,
   official, on file, on record, on the books, permissible, permitted,
   posted, proper, recorded, registered, right, right and proper,
   rightful, sanctionable, sanctioned, self-consistent, solid, sound,
   square, statutory, substantial, sufficient, valid, warrantable,
   warranted, weighty, well-founded, well-grounded, within the law,
   written down

	

	legal adj. Loosely used to mean `in accordance with all the relevant
   rules', esp. in connection with some set of constraints defined by
   software. "The older =+ alternate for += is no longer legal syntax in
   ANSI C." "This parser processes each line of legal input the moment it
   sees the trailing linefeed." Hackers often model their work as a sort of
   game played with the environment in which the objective is to maneuver
   through the thicket of `natural laws' to achieve a desired objective.
   Their use of `legal' is flavored as much by this game-playing sense as
   by the more conventional one having to do with courts and lawyers.
   Compare language lawyer, legalese.

	

	legal
     
        Loosely used to mean "in accordance with all the relevant
        rules", especially in connection with some set of constraints
        defined by software.  "The older =+ alternate for += is no
        longer legal syntax in ANSI C."  "This parser processes each
        line of legal input the moment it sees the trailing linefeed."
        Hackers often model their work as a sort of game played with
        the environment in which the objective is to maneuver through
        the thicket of "natural laws" to achieve a desired objective.
        Their use of "legal" is flavoured as much by this game-playing
        sense as by the more conventional one having to do with courts
        and lawyers.  Compare language lawyer, legalese.
     
        [Jargon File]

	

	LEGAL. That which is according to law. It is used in opposition to 
equitable, as the legal estate is, in the trustee, the equitable estate in 
the cestui que trust. Vide Powell on Mortg. Index, h.t. 
     2. The party who has the legal title, has alone the right to seek a 
remedy for a wrong to his estate, in a court of law, though he may have no 
beneficial interest in it. The equitable owner, is he who has not the legal 
estate, but is entitled to the beneficial interest. 
     3. The person who holds the legal estate for the benefit of another, is 
called a trustee; he who has the beneficiary interest and does not hold the 
legal title, is called the beneficiary, or more technically, the cestui que 
trust. 
     4. When the trustee has a claim, he must enforce his right in a court 
of equity, for he cannot sue any one at law, in his own name; 1 East, 497; 8 
T. R. 332; 1 Saund. 158, n. 1; 2 Bing. 20; still less can he in such court 
sue his own trustee. 1 East, 497.