illegal vs lawful

illegal

adj
  • Contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law. 

  • Breaching certain enacted statutes of positive law; not lawful, not legal (cf. immoral, unethical) 

  • Forbidden by established rules. 

  • Being or doing something illegally. 

  • Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally. 

  • Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country. 

noun
  • An illegal immigrant. 

  • Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs. 

  • A spy working abroad illegally and undercover, without visible ties to his or her country’s authorities. 

lawful

noun
  • A character having a lawful alignment. 

adj
  • Operating according to some law or fundamental principle. 

  • Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of society. 

How often have the words illegal and lawful occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )