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legally or lawfully?

English translation: legally/lawfully

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:legally or lawfully?
Selected answer:legally/lawfully
Entered by: Valeria Verholen (X)

00:14 Feb 18, 2006
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy
English term or phrase: legally or lawfully?
He is granted this diploma so he can lawfully/legally practice his profession

Muchisimas gracias por aclararme esta duda!
Valeria Verholen (X)
Local time: 00:04
legally/lawfully
Explanation:
They're both perfectly fine.

legal (lê´gel) adjective
Abbr. leg.
1. Of, relating to, or concerned with law: legal papers.
2. a. Authorized by or based on law: a legal right. b. Established by law; statutory: the legal owner.
3. In conformity with or permitted by law: legal business operations.

legally, by law, by order
legitimately, de jure, in the eyes of the law

The Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Americanized Version) is licensed from Longman Group UK Limited. Copyright © 1994 by Longman Group UK Limited. All rights reserved.

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Note added at 7 mins (2006-02-18 00:22:04 GMT)
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lawful (lô´fel) adjective
1. Being within the law; allowed by law: lawful methods of dissent.
2. Established, sanctioned, or recognized by the law: the lawful heir.
3. Obeying the law; law-abiding.
- law´fully adverb

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992.

Suerte, Valeria!
Selected response from:

Marcelo González
United States
Local time: 20:04
Grading comment
Muchas Gracias Marcelo!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +10legally/lawfully
Marcelo González
4 +4both are ok
swisstell
5 +1legally
Heather Chinchilla
4 +2[not for grading]
Nikos Mastrakoulis


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
both are ok


Explanation:
both mean "by law / conforming to law" but LEGALLY is probably more commonly used.


    www.hyperdictionary.com/thesaurus (legally, lawfully)
swisstell
Italy
Local time: 08:04
Native speaker of: German

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marcelo González
3 mins
agree  Tania Marques-Cardoso
1 hr
agree  Premium✍️: with a preference for "legally" in this case.
5 hrs
agree  Rebecca Barath
7 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
legally


Explanation:
I like legally, but either is ok.

Heather Chinchilla
United States
Local time: 02:04
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Premium✍️: Yes, in this case, preferable.
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +10
legally/lawfully


Explanation:
They're both perfectly fine.

legal (lê´gel) adjective
Abbr. leg.
1. Of, relating to, or concerned with law: legal papers.
2. a. Authorized by or based on law: a legal right. b. Established by law; statutory: the legal owner.
3. In conformity with or permitted by law: legal business operations.

legally, by law, by order
legitimately, de jure, in the eyes of the law

The Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Americanized Version) is licensed from Longman Group UK Limited. Copyright © 1994 by Longman Group UK Limited. All rights reserved.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2006-02-18 00:22:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

lawful (lô´fel) adjective
1. Being within the law; allowed by law: lawful methods of dissent.
2. Established, sanctioned, or recognized by the law: the lawful heir.
3. Obeying the law; law-abiding.
- law´fully adverb

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992.

Suerte, Valeria!

Marcelo González
United States
Local time: 20:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field What is ProZ.com Project History(SM)?
Grading comment
Muchas Gracias Marcelo!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jonathan Spector
15 mins
  -> Thank you, Jonathan!
agree  Stefanie Sendelbach
33 mins
  -> Thank you, Stefanie!
agree  Kim Metzger: Good references and explanation. / Well, sort of nearby :)
57 mins
  -> exactly, at least in name :-) >Thanks, Kim, and regards from (nearby) New Mexico. :-)
agree  Refugio
1 hr
  -> Thank you, Ruth :-)
agree  Seema Ugrankar
1 hr
  -> Thank you, Seema!
agree  Marina Soldati
1 hr
  -> Muchas gracias, Marina :-)
agree  Henry Hinds: Pos claro.
2 hrs
  -> muchas gracias, po' :-) y saludos, tambien!
agree  Morad Safe (X)
5 hrs
  -> Thank you, Morad!
agree  Premium✍️: for the profession, "legally" would be more suitable.
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, MultiPro!
agree  Asghar Bhatti
14 hrs
  -> Thanks, Asghar!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
[not for grading]


Explanation:
If I may add my view, "lawfully" actually means according to the _form_ of law, whereas "legally" is closer to the meaning, according to both form and _intent_ of law. There is the distinct possibility that an action may be lawful but not legal.

A rather controversial example might be a set of laws stipulating that the regime governing the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is lawful, while this whole set of laws may actually be illegal under international law and international obligations.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2006-02-23 08:53:17 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

(a) I absolutely agree with the chosen answer

(b) There is no doubt that "legal" has a wider meaning than "lawful". For example:

lawful: Permitted, appointed, qualified, or recognized, by law, not illegal or (of child) illegitimate.

legal: Of, based on, falling within province of, occupied with, law; required or appointed by law; recognized by law as distinguished from equity; lawful, whence legalize, legalization.

(The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1934 edition, reprinted 1949)

As regards the distinction between form and intent, a law itself might be illegal when in conflict with higher order law (e.g. international treaties/conventions), while I have never seen anyone call a law "unlawful".

Nikos Mastrakoulis
Greece
Local time: 09:04
Native speaker of: Native in GreekGreek

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Premium✍️: True :)
1 hr
  -> Thanks, see added note.
neutral  Marcelo González: By making such distinctions, you appear to be assigning a higher (moral?) value on that which you see as "lawful." Common usage (at least in the US) suggests that such a distinction may not exist. I'm not sure dictionaries support your contention either.
2 hrs
  -> On the contrary, I am assigning a wider meaning (not value) to "legal". Please see added note.
agree  William [Bill] Gray: I agree with Nikos here: no solicitor EVER calls his business "LAWFUL PRACTICE", even though it IS! So Marcel's point is not valid, I think.
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, see added note.
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