Definition: legal

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

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: (sports) allowed by official rules; "a legal pass receiver"

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

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.

   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.

   3. (Law) Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from
      the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets.
      --Bouvier. --Burrill.

   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.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

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]

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) 

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.