legally
- 1In a way that the law permits; without breaking the law.
Residents can legally keep up to four chickens in their backyards.
The documents were obtained legally, through a public records request.
Similarlawfully
Oppositeillegally, unlawfully
Note
This is the permission sense, close to lawfully, and it sits as easily before the verb as after it: you can legally park, or park legally. When the question is no longer what the law allows but how it classes a person or a thing, the word has crossed to the point-of-view meaning, where nothing is being permitted.
- 2From the point of view of the law.
Legally, the landlord can't enter your apartment without notice, but many do anyway.
The twins are legally adults now, though their parents still pay for everything.
Similarofficially
Note
Here the adverb can comment on a whole statement. Set first, with a comma, it gives the law's answer before the speaker turns to what actually happens: Legally, I think you are covered, but… Placed before a status, as in legally known as Ye or legally adults, it names what the law recognizes, whatever daily life suggests.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from legal + the suffix -ly.