legitimate

¹le·git·i·mate

adjective \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

See Synonym Discussion at lawful

Other Legal Terms

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

²le·git·i·mate

transitive verb \li-ˈji-tə-ˌmāt\

le·git·i·mat·edle·git·i·mat·ing

Definition of LEGITIMATE

: to make (someone or something) legitimate (see ¹legitimate):

a (1) : to give legal status or authorization to

(2) : to show or affirm to be justified

(3) : to lend authority or respectability to

b : to give (a child born out of wedlock) the same legal status as a child born in wedlock

— le·git·i·ma·tion \li-ˌji-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun

— le·git·i·mat·or \li-ˈji-tə-ˌmā-tər\ noun

Examples of LEGITIMATE

1. slang words legitimated by usage
2. Her tendency to be secretive only serves to legitimate their suspicions.
3. Poland has ceased being a nation with even a pretense of Communist rule, a rule that is legitimated by Marxist ideology. —Irving Kristol, Wall Street Journal, 11 Jan. 1982
4. … they are more concerned with the ways in which schools and colleges legitimate and maintain inequality than with the ways they devalue and restrict personal autonomy. —Christopher Jencks, New York Times Book Review, 15 Feb. 1976
5. Which comes first, the desire to legitimate euthanasia or the nullifying of a distinction between killing and allowing to die? —Daniel Callahan, Commonweal, 2 June 2000

Origin of LEGITIMATE

(see ¹legitimate)

First Known Use: 1531

Other Legal Terms

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

Rhymes with LEGITIMATE

abbreviate, abominate, accelerate, accentuate, accommodate, acculturate, accumulate, adjudicate, adulterate, affiliate, agglomerate, alienate, alleviate, alliterate, amalgamate, ameliorate, amyl nitrate, annihilate, annunciate, anticipate, apostolate, appreciate, appropriate, approximate, arpeggiate, articulate, asphyxiate, assassinate, asseverate, assimilate, associate, at any rate, attenuate, authenticate, barbiturate, bicarbonate, calumniate, capacitate, capitulate, catholicate, certificate, coagulate, coelenterate, collaborate, commemorate, commiserate, communicate, compassionate, concatenate, conciliate, confabulate, confederate, conglomerate, congratulate, consolidate, contaminate, cooperate, coordinate, corroborate, deactivate, debilitate, decapitate, decelerate, decerebrate, deconcentrate, deconsecrate, decorticate, decrepitate, de-escalate, defibrinate, defoliate, degenerate, deliberate, delineate, demodulate, denominate, depopulate, depreciate, deracinate, deregulate, desegregate, desiderate, detoxicate, devaluate, diaconate, dilapidate, discriminate, disintegrate, disseminate, dissimulate, dissociate, domesticate, effectuate, ejaculate, elaborate, electroplate, eliminate, elucidate, emaciate, emancipate, emasculate, encapsulate, enumerate, enunciate, episcopate, equivocate, eradicate, etiolate, evacuate, evaluate, evaporate, eventuate, eviscerate, exacerbate, exaggerate, exasperate, excited state, excogitate, excoriate, exfoliate, exhilarate, exonerate, expatiate, expatriate, expectorate, expostulate, expropriate, extenuate, exterminate, extrapolate, facilitate, felicitate, fish or cut bait, garrison state, gesticulate, habilitate, habituate, hallucinate, humiliate, hydrogenate, hypothecate, illuminate, impersonate, inactivate, inaugurate, incarcerate, incinerate, incorporate, incriminate, indoctrinate, inebriate, infatuate, infuriate, ingratiate, ingurgitate, initiate, inoculate, inseminate, insinuate, instantiate, intercalate, interpolate, interrelate, interrogate, intimidate, intoxicate, invalidate, investigate, invigorate, irradiate, Italianate, Korea Strait, lanceolate, luxuriate, mandarinate, manipulate, matriarchate, matriculate, Merthiolate, necessitate, negotiate, noncandidate, obliterate, officiate, Orange Free State, orientate, originate, oxygenate, participate, particulate, patriarchate, patriciate, perambulate, peregrinate, perpetuate, pontificate, precipitate, predestinate, predominate, prefabricate, premeditate, preponderate, prevaricate, procrastinate, prognosticate, proliferate, propitiate, proportionate, quadruplicate, quintuplicate, reciprocate, recriminate, recuperate, redecorate, reduplicate, reeducate, refrigerate, regenerate, regurgitate, reincarnate, reintegrate, reiterate, rejuvenate, remunerate, repatriate, repudiate, resuscitate, retaliate, reticulate, revaluate, reverberate, scholasticate, second estate, self-flagellate, self-immolate, self-pollinate, seventy-eight, sextuplicate, Singapore Strait, sophisticate, subordinate, substantiate, syllabicate, tergiversate, transliterate, triangulate, vanity plate, variegate, vaticinate, vituperate, vociferate