leg-, lex

(Latin: pertaining to the law, legal)

From Latin legalis and lex, legis, law; lex is singular while leges is plural.

illegally
illegible
Impossible or very difficult to read.
illegitimacy (s) (noun), illegitimacies (pl)
1. The status of being born to unmarried parents: Thomas was aware of his illegitimacy, but since he had a great mother and friends it didn't bother him all that much.
2. Unlawfulness; the condition of being against the law: It was said in the newspaper that the illegitimacy of one country trying to seize another sovereign country was absolutely horrific and that the fighting that was going on should be stopped immediately.
illegitimate
1. Not legitimate, not in accordance with or authorized by law; unauthorized, unwarranted; spurious; irregular, improper.
2. Not born in lawful wedlock; not recognized by law as lawful offspring; spurious, bastard.
illegitimately
In an illegitimate manner; unlawfully; without authority; spuriously.
Illegitimati non carborundum.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Offered as a proposed motto or as advice. It is made up of pseudo, or mock, Latin illegitimatus "bastard" and Carborundum (silicon carbide [Sic], an abrasive), the trade name of a brand of abrasives.

It is also said to be the motto of General Joseph Warren ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell (1883-1946); commander of U.S. army ground forces under MacArthur (1945); commander of U.S. 10th army in the Pacific (1945-46).

leal
legacy (s) (noun), legacies (pl)
1. Money or property that is left to someone or others in a will: Mark Jones left his entire art collection as a legacy to the local art museum.
2. Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past: In some places, people have received a legacy of religious freedom.

The Ionic style of architecture that exists in some places is a legacy that has been inherited from ancient Greece.

Something that comes from an ancestor or from the past.
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legal
1. Of or pertaining to law; falling within the province of law.
2. Belonging to or characteristic of the profession of the law.
3. Such as is required or appointed by law; founded upon law; deriving authority from law.
4. Something connected with law; a legal formality; a legal notice.
legalese
1. The complicated technical language of legal documents.
2. Language typical of lawyers, laws, legal forms, etc., characterized by archaic usage, prolixity (wordy and tedious), redundancy, and extreme thoroughness.
legalism, legalistic
1. A strict and usually literal adherence to he law.
2. A disposition to exalt the importance of law or formulated rule in any department of action.
legalist, legalistic
1. A stickler for legality.
2. One versed in the law; one who views things from a legal standpoint.
legality
1. Attachment to or observance of law or rule.
2. In theology, insistence on the letter of the law; reliance on works for salvation, rather than on free grace.
3. The spirit or way of thinking characteristic of the legal profession; pl. points of manner or speech indicative of this.
4. The quality of being legal or in conformity with the law; lawfulness. In early use, legitimacy.
legalize, legalization
To make legal or conformable to law; to invest with the authority of law; to authorize, justify, sanction.
legally
In a legal manner; according to law, lawfully. Also, in a legal sense; from the point of view of law.