lawfully

Etymology

From Middle English lawfully, lawfulliche, lawefulliche; equivalent to lawful +‎ -ly.

Adverb

lawfully (comparative more lawfully, superlative most lawfully)

1. Conforming to the law; legally.
   • 1781, C. Bathurst, The Modern Part of an Universal History From the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time, volume 12, page 264:

     This grand ceremony was immediately followed by a proclamation expreſsly forbidding the Abyſſine clergy, monks, and prieſts, to perform any prieſtly functions till they were previouſly examined and approved by the patriarch ; there being ſome reaſon to doubt whether they had been lawfully examined.

   • 2009 September 26, The Associated Press, “Kuwaiti Ordered Released From Guantánamo Bay”, in The New York Times‎:

     He was sent to Guantánamo in 2002, and Judge Kollar-Kotelly found that from the beginning of his stay, “there is no evidence in the record that anyone directed any allegations toward al-Rabiah nor any indication that interrogators believed al-Rabiah had engaged in any conduct that made him lawfully detainable.”

Alternative forms

• lawefully, lawfullich, lawfulliche, laufulli, lawfuly, laufulli, lawefulleche, lawefulliche, laghfully, lagh-fulli, laufulleche, lawfulleche, law-fully

Etymology

From laweful +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlau̯(ə)fuliː/, /ˈlau̯(ə)fuliːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

lawfully

1. Lawfully; in a way allowed by the law or legal system.
2. In a morally or religiously correct or approved way.
3. In an appropriate, justifiable or warrantable way.
4. (rare) In a way that remains true to one's superiors.