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legitimate

adjective le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-mət \
|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

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
—

legitimately

adverb

See legitimate defined for English-language learners

See legitimate defined for kids

Examples of legitimate in a Sentence

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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

  4. legitimate means for achieving success

  5. the legitimate use of firearms

  6. There's no legitimate reason for prescribing this medication to a child.

Recent Examples of legitimate from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legitimate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

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

legitimate Synonyms

Synonyms

lawful, legal, legit [slang], licit;

Antonyms

illegal, illegitimate, illicit, lawless, unlawful, wrongful;

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;

Related Words

allowable, authorized, noncriminal, permissible;

justifiable, warrantable;

constitutional;

de jure, regulation, statutory;

good, innocent, just, proper, right;

Synonym Discussion of legitimate

lawful, legal, legitimate, licit mean being in accordance with law. lawful may apply to conformity with law of any sort (such as natural, divine, common, or canon).
    • the lawful sovereign
legal applies to what is sanctioned by law or in conformity with the law, especially as it is written or administered by the courts.
    • legal residents of the state
legitimate may apply to a legal right or status but also, in extended use, to a right or status supported by tradition, custom, or accepted standards.
    • a perfectly legitimate question about taxes
licit applies to a strict conformity to the provisions of the law and applies especially to what is regulated by law.
    • the licit use of drugs by doctors

Other Legal Terms

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

2

legitimate

verb le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-ˌmāt \

Definition of legitimate

legitimated; legitimating
transitive verb
: 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
—

legitimation

play \li-ˌji-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun
—

legitimator

play \li-ˈji-tə-ˌmā-tər\ noun

See legitimate defined for English-language learners

Examples of legitimate in a Sentence

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. … 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

  4. slang words legitimated by usage

  5. Her tendency to be secretive only serves to legitimate their suspicions.

Recent Examples of legitimate from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legitimate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

see 1legitimate

Other Legal Terms

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

LEGITIMATE Defined for English Language Learners

legitimate

adjective

Definition of legitimate for English Language Learners

  • : allowed according to rules or laws

  • : real, accepted, or official

  • : fair or reasonable

legitimate

verb

Definition of legitimate for English Language Learners

  • : to make (something) real, accepted, or official

  • : to show that (something or someone) is fair or reasonable

LEGITIMATE Defined for Kids

legitimate

adjective le·git·i·mate \ li-ˈji-tə-mət \

Definition of legitimate for Students

1 : accepted by the law as rightful : lawful
  • a legitimate heir
2 : being right or acceptable
  • a legitimate excuse
—

legitimately

adverb

Law Dictionary

1

legitimate

adjective le·git·i·mate \ lə-ˈji-tə-mət \

legal Definition of legitimate

1 : conceived or born of parents lawfully married to each other or having been made through legal procedure equal in status to one so conceived or born; also : having rights and obligations under the law as the child of such birth
2 : being neither spurious nor false
  • a legitimate grievance
3 : being in accordance with law or with established legal forms and requirements
  • a legitimate government
4 : conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards
  • a legitimate claim of entitlement
  • a legitimate business reason
—

legitimately

adverb

Origin and Etymology of legitimate

Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare to give legal status to, from Latin legitimus legally sanctioned, from leg-, lex law

2

legitimate

transitive verb le·git·i·mate \ lə-ˈji-tə-ˌmāt \

legal Definition of legitimate

legitimated; legitimating
: to make legitimate: as
a : to give legal status or authorization to
b : to show or affirm to be justified or have merit
c : to put (an illegitimate child) in the state of a child born of married parents before the law by legal means — compare filiate
—

legitimation

play \lə-ˌji-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun

Learn More about legitimate

  1. See words that rhyme with legitimate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for legitimate Spanish Central: Translation of legitimate Nglish: Translation of legitimate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of legitimate for Arabic speakers

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