Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Legal \Le"gal\ (l[=e]"gal), a. [L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law;
   prob. orig., that which lies or is fixed (cf. L. lectus bed),
   and if so akin to E. lie, law: cf. F. l['e]gal. Cf. {Lie} to
   be prostrate, {Loyal}, {Leal}.]
   1. Created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating
      to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test;
      a legal procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything
      is legal which the laws do not forbid.

   2. (Theol.)
      (a) According to the law of works, as distinguished from
          free grace; or resting on works for salvation.
      (b) According to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in
          accordance with the law of Moses.

   3. (Law) Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from
      the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets.
      --Bouvier. --Burrill.

   {Legal cap}. See under {Cap}.

   {Legal tender}.
      (a) The act of tendering in the performance of a contract
          or satisfaction of a claim that which the law
          prescribes or permits, and at such time and place as
          the law prescribes or permits.
      (b) That currency, or money, which the law authorizes a
          debtor to tender and requires a creditor to receive.
          It differs in different countries.

   Syn: Lawful; constitutional; legitimate; licit; authorized.
        See {Lawful}.



   {Legal tender}. See under {Legal}.

   {Tender of issue} (Law), a form of words in a pleading, by
      which a party offers to refer the question raised upon it
      to the appropriate mode of decision. --Burrill.

Source : WordNet®

legal tender
     n : something used as an official medium of payment [syn: {tender}]