Etymology: < Anglo-Norman legister, Anglo-Norman and Old French legistre lawyer (13th cent.), alteration (with suffix substitution, after e.g. ministre minister n.) of legiste legist n. With the form legistery compare post-classical Latin legistarius person who has studied or practised law (1297 in a British source).Attested earlier as a surname, although it is unclear whether earlier examples of surnames such as Rob. le Legistre (1241), Agn. la Legistre (1251), Joh. le Legistre (1286) are to be taken as reflecting the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word. In the case of Agn. la Legistre , the woman with this surname probably bears the surname of her father or her husband; it is very unlikely to imply earlier currency of the homonym legister n.²

Etymology: Apparently irregularly < classical Latin legere to read (see lection n.) + -ster suffix. Compare post-classical Latin legistra (see quot. a1425; probably < English). Compare earlier lister n.¹Compare discussion of surname evidence at legister n.¹