legal blindness
1
4.0
- noun
- /ˈliːɡəl ˈblaɪndnəs/
- Specialized
:
ceguera legal
- From the membership list of the RRTC National Consumer Feedback Network, a group of approximately 1,500 adults with legal blindness, we invited a subset of 497 people, identified as large print users, to participate in the survey.
But that's not what legal blindness really means.
- But that's not what legal blindness really means.
Examples
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Many people with legal blindness qualify for assistance programs that help them with daily living activities.
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To estimate the prevalence rate of legal blindness, adults aged 40 and over in a local area were examined.
Academic text (1997) -
The requirement of legal blindness by many state and private programs may change in compliance with Medicare and may become a less significant barrier as more services develop outside these programs.
Academic text (2004) -
Not only did legal blindness give them access to the blindness pension and half-priced public transportation, it provided them with the affirmation they needed.
Academic text (2004) -
Each child met the following definition of legal blindness: an acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction or a field of vision of 20 degrees or less in the better eye.
Academic text (1996) -
The most common outcome of ARMD is legal blindness and vision impairment in older Americans (National Institute of Health NIH, 2002).
Academic text (2008) -
Her legal blindness was determined after a series of tests that measured her visual acuity.
-
The educational resources available for students with legal blindness have improved significantly in recent years.
Synonyms
70
3.1
A condition in which a person cannot see because of injury, disease, or being born that way
1
4.1
A condition where a person can see poorly or not at all
Not being able to see
A problem with the eyes that makes it hard to see clearly
A problem in the eyes that makes it hard to see
A problem with your sight that makes things look unclear
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'legal' (pertaining to law) + 'blindness' (loss of sight) and thus denotes a form of blindness defined or recognized by law; a B1 learner who knows both words can infer this general sense. They may not know the specific legal thresholds (e.g., 20/200), but the compositional pattern and common cross‑linguistic equivalents make the expression immediately understandable.
Etymology
Legal blindness puts together legal (meaning 'by law') and blindness (very poor sight) to make a simple, official rule. The phrase shows that a person's vision meets the law's limit so they are 'officially blind' and can get help or benefits.