[W/K] :: legal

  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.