LEGALLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does legally mean? 

• LEGALLY (adverb)
  The adverb LEGALLY has 2 senses:

1. by law; conforming to the law

2. in a legal manner

  Familiarity information: LEGALLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEGALLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

By law; conforming to the law

Synonyms:

de jure; lawfully; legally

Context example:

we are lawfully wedded now

Pertainym:

legal (of or relating to jurisprudence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a legal manner

Context example:

he acted legally

Pertainym:

legal (established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules)

 Context examples 

Indicates a person whose marriage has been legally dissolved and has not remarried.

(Divorced, NCI Thesaurus)

Indicates a person currently joined in a legally binding matrimonial union.

(Married, NCI Thesaurus)

Having been legally made a member of a family.

(Adopted, NCI Thesaurus)

A marital status in which a voidable marriage is legally declared null and void, as though it never existed.

(Annulled, NCI Thesaurus)

Of course, legally, we are putting ourselves hopelessly in the wrong; but I think that it is worth it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have come legally to man's estate.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Any individual related biologically or legally to another individual and considered immediate family as in the case of a spouse, parent, sibling or child.

(First Degree Relative, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A legally binding document which governs the administrative/legal terms under which a Study will be conducted.

(Clinical Trial Agreement, NCI Thesaurus)

“Yet it is hard,” she sometimes thought, “that this poor man cannot come to a house which he has legally hired, without raising all this speculation! I will leave him to himself.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It may also legally and ethically trade at a profit.

(Nonprofit Organization, NCI Thesaurus)