Legalize
Defined in 4 dictionaries — Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Black's (1891), Abbott (1879)
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
To confirm acts already done, not to authorize new proceedings in the future. Barker v. Chesterfield, 102 Mass. 128.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
A Dictionary of Law
Henry Campbell Black · 1891
To make legal or lawful; to confirm or validate what was before void or unlawful; to add the sanction and author. ity of law to that which before was without or against law.
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
To render lawful; to give authority of law to that which lacks it. Legalization; the conferting validity upon an act, contract, &c., which previous law does not authorize. The general principle is that the legislature may legalize, i. e. give validity to, an act done without its authority, which it might have authorized beforehand; but none other.