lawful

English

Alternative forms

• lawfull (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law +‎ -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːfʊl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːfʊl

Adjective

lawful (comparative more lawful, superlative most lawful)

1. (law) Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of society.

   Synonyms: just, legal, legitimate, licit

   Antonyms: nonlawful, unlawful, illicit

   Lawful money is always a land asset and can only be issued by an actual land jurisdiction government — not a corporation.

   • 2024 February 7, Philip Haigh, “Railway's fragile resilience”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 3:

     The laws are controversial. Forcing someone to work during a lawful strike is a major step. It was always likely to inflame a situation, and so it proved with LNER. ASLEF's counter-tactic came as a five-day walkout, which would have been the longest stoppage for many years had LNER not withdrawn its plan.

2. Operating according to some law or fundamental principle.
   • 1776, Jeremy Bentham, “A Short Review of the Declaration”, in John Lind, An Anſwer to the Declaration of the American Congress‎^[1], London: Thomas Cadell, page 121:

     Or would they have it believed, that there is in their ſelves ſome ſuperior ſanctity, ſome peculiar privilege, by which theſe things are lawful to them, which are unlawful to all the world beſides?

   • 2014, George Ortega, Free Will: Its Refutation, Societal Cost and Role in Climate Change Denial:

     […] so that the person's actions are merely the inevitable product of lawful causes stemming from prior events […]

4. (roleplaying games) Of a character: having an alignment which makes them tend to follow the laws and conventions of society.

   Coordinate terms: chaotic, neutral

Derived terms

• lawful day
• lawful interception
• lawfully
• lawful money
• lawfulness

 

Translations

conforming to or recognised by law or rules

• Arabic: قانوني (ar) (qānūniyy)
• Bulgarian: законен (bg) (zakonen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 合法的 (zh) (héfǎ de)

• Dutch: wettig (nl), rechtmatig (nl)
• Finnish: lainmukainen (fi), laillinen (fi)
• French: légal (fr)
• Georgian: კანონიერი (ḳanonieri)
• German: gesetzlich (de), legal (de), rechtsmäßig
• Hungarian: törvényes (hu), törvényszerű (hu)
• Icelandic: löglegur (is)
• Irish: dleathach
• Japanese: 合法な (ja) (ごうほうな, gōhō na)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: lēgitimus (la)
• Latvian: likumīgs
• Luxembourgish: gesetzlech
• Macedonian: законит (zakonit)
• Middle English: laweful
• Old English: ǣwlīċ
• Polish: prawowierny (pl), prawomierny, prawomocny (pl), legalny (pl)
• Portuguese: legal (pt), legalizado (pt)
• Romanian: legal (ro) m
• Russian: зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj), лега́льный (ru) (legálʹnyj), правоме́рный (ru) (pravomérnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: dligheach
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swahili: halali (sw)
• Swedish: laglig (sv), berättigad (sv), rättmätig (sv)
• Turkish: yasal (tr)

operating according to some law or fundamental principle

• Finnish: oikeutettu (fi)

Noun

lawful (plural lawfuls)

1. (roleplaying games) A character having a lawful alignment.

Anagrams

• awfull

Middle English

Adjective

lawful

1. Alternative form of laweful