Meanings
plural legists
- Someone skilled in the law; a lawmaker, a legislator.
‘King and kingdom,’ concurred d'Aguesseau, wisest of wise eighteenth-century legists, ‘form a single entity.’
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 31 more example
There were a number of lawyers of the older type, men in sharp contrast and antagonism to the younger legists of the new American school.
1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Second Conference at Basra, 1978”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, 3rd book (The World Renascence: The Birth of the Modern State), page 309
Origin
- Latinlex“law”
- Medieval Latinlēgista
- Middle Frenchlégiste
- Englishlegist
From Middle French légiste, from Medieval Latin lēgista, from Latin lex (“law”). Compare legal.
More words from Middle French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian законовед
- законовед (zakonoved)one skilled in the law
Finnish lainoppinut
- lainoppinutone skilled in the law
Russian правове́д
- правове́д (pravovéd)one skilled in the law
Cite this entry
legist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legist
“legist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “legist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/legist.
Source: legist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.