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START / NODE 60Present-Day English15th century–today
legal
Of law or permitted by law; borrowed through Anglo-French from Latin lēgālis and lēx.
“Legal is not descended from English law. Legal is a Latin borrowing; law belongs to a different Germanic and Scandinavian history.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
EVERY REVIEWED PARENT, NOT ONE EDITORIAL PATH
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishlegal
of, founded on, or permitted by law
↑GO DEEPER
Anglo-French · Anglo-Frenchlegalof law
- SOUND CHANGE
- English preserved the learned form with later English vowel and stress development.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- The adjective broadened from juridical status to rule-conformity more generally.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- First known English use: 15th century.
THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
Crossing into a starred form changes the evidence class. The interface marks that crossing, preserves confidence, and never manufactures the next root to make the picture look complete.