adj.

1. Being within the law; allowed by law: lawful methods of dissent.
2. Established, sanctioned, or recognized by the law: the lawful heir.
3. Obeying the law; law-abiding.

lawfully law'ful·ly adv.
lawfulness law'ful·ness n.

adjective

Within, allowed by, or sanctioned by the law: innocent, legal, legitimate, licit. Slang legit. See law.

adj

Definition: allowable, legitimate
Antonyms: illegal, illegitimate, illicit, prohibited, taboo, unlawful

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Licit; legally warranted or autho- rized.

The terms lawful and legal differ in that the former contemplates the substance of law, whereas the latter alludes to the form of law. A lawful act is authorized, sanctioned, or not forbidden by law. A legal act is performed in accordance with the forms and usages of law, or in a technical manner. In this sense, illegal approaches the meaning of invalid. For example, a contract or will, executed without the required formalities, might be regarded as invalid or illegal, but could not be described as unlawful.

The term lawful more clearly suggests an ethical content than does the word legal. The latter merely denotes compliance with technical or formal rules, whereas the former usually signifies a moral substance or ethical permissibility. An additional distinction is that the word legal is used as the synonym of constructive, while lawful is not. Legal fraud is fraud implied by law, or made out by construction, but lawful fraud would be a contradiction in terms. Legal is also used as the antithesis of equitable, just. As a result, legal estate is the correct usage, instead of lawful estate. Under certain circumstances, however, the two words are used as exact equivalents. A lawful writ, warrant, or process is the same as a legal writ, warrant, or process.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

adj.

Compatible with the will of a judge having jurisdiction.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - lovlig, retmæssig, legitim, lovformelig, ifølge loven

Nederlands (Dutch)
legitiem, wettig, rechtmatig

Français (French)
adj. - légal, licite, légitime

Deutsch (German)
adj. - rechtmäßig, gesetzlich

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - έννομος, νόμιμος, σύννομος

Italiano (Italian)
legittimo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - legal, lícito

Русский (Russian)
законный, законопослушный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - legítimo, legal, lícito

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - laglig, inte förbjuden i lag, lagenlig, laga, erkänd av lagen, berättigad

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
法律许可的, 合法的, 守法的

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 法律許可的, 合法的, 守法的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 합법적인, 법정의, 법률상의 자격이 있는

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 合法の, 遵法の, 法定の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) قانوني, مطابق للقانون, شرعي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חוקי‬

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