Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - legal

 I. adjective  Etymology: Anglo-French, from Latin ~is, from leg-, lex law  Date: circa 1500  1. of or relating to law  2.  a. deriving authority from or founded on law ; de jure  b. having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact ; titular a corporation is a ~ but not a real person  c. established by law; especially statutory  3. conforming to or permitted by law or established rules  4. recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity  5. of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members  6. created by the constructions of the law a ~ fiction  Synonyms: see lawful  • ~ly adverb  II. noun  Date: 1526 one that conforms to rules or the law