Latin 'lex' (law), from PIE *leg- (to gather) — gave English 'legal,' 'legislate,' 'loyal,' 'privilege,' and 'sacrilege.'
A Latin word meaning 'law, statute, regulation, contract,' and the source of English words relating to law, reading, and formal agreements.
From Proto-Italic *legs, likely from the Proto-Indo-European root *leǵ- meaning 'to collect, to gather,' with a semantic development from 'that which is gathered or collected' to 'a set of rules' to 'law.' Some scholars connect it instead to *leǵ- in the sense 'to read' (since laws were read aloud), which is the source of Latin legere ('to read, to choose, to gather'). Latin lēx (stem lēg-) was a third-declension feminine noun used for written statutes, proposed legislation, contracts, and general rules or principles. Key
'Loyal' and 'legal' are doublets — both descend from Latin lēgālis ('of the law'). 'Legal' was borrowed directly from Latin, while 'loyal' arrived through Old French loial (from Vulgar Latin *lēgālis), where the g softened and disappeared. To be loyal was originally to be lawful — faithful to the law and to one's sworn obligations. 'Privilege' comes from prīvus ('private') + lēx ('law'), literally 'a private law' — a special legal exemption granted
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