"legal" in seven languages
Meaninglegal
Spanish
/leˈɡal/
learned
In Spain, colloquially also 'decent, trustworthy': es un tío legal.
French
/leɡal/
learned
Italian
/leˈɡale/
learned
Also a noun: un legale is a lawyer.
Portuguese
/leˈɡaw/
learned
Trap: in Brazil legal is also everyday slang for 'cool, nice', so 'não é legal' reads as 'it's not nice'.
Romanian
/leˈɡal/
learned
Catalan
/ləˈɡal/
learned
English
/ˈliɡəl/
from Latin/French · French légal, Latin LĒGĀLIS
The Latin ancestor
LĒGĀLEM‘of the law (LĒX, LĒGIS 'law')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The inherited form of the same word lost its g: Spanish leal and French loyal mean 'faithful' — and English borrowed both legal and loyal.
English relatives: legal, legitimate, legislate, loyal (via French)
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In a sentence
- esNo es legal aparcar aquí.
- frCe n'est pas légal de se garer ici.
- itNon è legale parcheggiare qui.
- ptEstacionar aqui é ilegal.
- roNu e legal să parchezi aici.
- caNo és legal aparcar aquí.
- enIt is not legal to park here.
The Latin family
LĒX, LĒG-· law
LĒGĀLEM 'of the law' is a textbook doublet: in speech it lost its g and drifted from 'lawful' to 'faithful' (leal, loyal); in writing it stayed legal. English borrowed both from French, centuries apart, and so has loyal and legal side by side. Portuguese leal and Catalan lleial took the popular road too; Romanian, which inherited lege 'law', borrowed loial and legal from French.
LĒGEMlaw
esleyfrloiitleggeptleirolegecallei
LĒGĀLEMlawful → faithful
eslealfrloyalitlealeptlealroloialcalleialenloyal
LĒGĀLEMlegal (learned)
eslegalfrlégalitlegaleptlegalrolegalcalegalenlegal
LĒGITIMUMlawful, legitimate
eslegítimofrlégitimeitlegittimoptlegítimorolegitimcalegítimenlegitimate
PRĪVILĒGIUMa law for one person
esprivilegiofrprivilègeitprivilegioptprivilégioroprivilegiucaprivilegienprivilege