legitimate

¹le·git·i·mate

adj \li-ˈji-tə-mət\

Definition of LEGITIMATE

1

a : lawfully begotten; specifically : born in wedlock b : having full filial rights and obligations by birth <a legitimate child>

2

: being exactly as purposed : neither spurious nor false <a legitimate grievance> <a legitimate practitioner>

3

a : accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements <a legitimate government> b : ruling by or based on the strict principle of hereditary right <a legitimate king>

4

: conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards <a legitimate advertising expenditure> <a legitimate inference>

5

: relating to plays acted by professional actors but not including revues, burlesque, or some forms of musical comedy <the legitimate theater>

— le·git·i·mate·ly adverb

Examples of LEGITIMATE

1. legitimate means for achieving success
2. the legitimate use of firearms
3. There's no legitimate reason for prescribing this medication to a child.
4. Law books were getting thicker by the week with Supreme Court decisions barring legitimate claims because they weren't timely filed. —John Grisham, The Chamber, 1995
5. Even in many courtrooms, where there is valid concern about the privacy of defendants, judges recognize that camera coverage serves a legitimate public interest. —New Republic, 22 Feb. 1993
6. He was indeed already a legitimate child according to the law of Scotland, by the subsequent marriage of his parents. —Sir Walter Scott, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, 1818

Origin of LEGITIMATE

Middle English legitimat, from Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare to legitimate, from Latin legitimus legitimate, from leg-, lex law

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to LEGITIMATE

Synonyms: lawful, legit [slang], legal, licit

Antonyms: illegal, illegitimate, illicit, lawless, unlawful, wrongful

Related Words: allowable, authorized, noncriminal, permissible; justifiable, warrantable; constitutional; de jure, regulation, statutory; good, innocent, just, proper, right

Near Antonyms: bad, corrupt, evil, immoral, iniquitous, reprobate, sinful, wicked, wrong; banned, criminal, forbidden, guilty, impermissible, outlawed, prohibited, unauthorized, unjust; under-the-counter, under-the-table; nonconstitutional, unconstitutional

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See Synonym Discussion at lawful

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi