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Webster 1913 Edition

Legitimate

Le-git′i-mate

(-mā̍t)
,
Adj.
[LL.
legitimatus
, p. p. of
legitimare
to legitimate, fr. L.
legitimus
legitimate. See
Legal
.]
1.
Accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements; lawful;
as,
legitimate
government;
legitimate
rights; the
legitimate
succession to the throne; a
legitimate
proceeding of an officer; a
legitimate
heir.
2.
Lawfully begotten; born in wedlock.
3.
Authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfe`t, or spurious;
as,$
legitimate
poems of Chaucer;
legitimate
inscriptions.
4.
Conforming to known principles, or accepted rules;
as,
legitimate
reasoning; a
legitimate
standard, or method; a
legitimate
combination of colors.
Tillotson still keeps his place as a
legitimate
English classic.
Macaulay.
5.
Following by logical sequence; reasonable;
as, a
legitimate
result; a
legitimate
inference.

Le-git′i-mate

(-māt)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Legitimated
(-māˊtĕd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Legitimating
(-māˊtĭng)
.]
To make legitimate, lawful, or valid; esp., to put in the position or state of a legitimate person before the law, by legal means;
as, to
legitimate
a bastard child
.
To enact a statute of that which he dares not seem to approve, even to
legitimate
vice.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Legitimate

LEGIT'IMATE

,
Adj.
[L. legitimus, from lex, law.]
1.
Lawfully begotten or born; born in wedlock; as legitimate heirs or children.
2.
Genuine; real; proceeding from a pure source; not false or spurious; as legitimate arguments or inferences.

LEGIT'IMATE

, v.t.
1.
To make lawful
2.
To render legitimate; to communicate the rights of a legitimate child to one that is illegitimate; to invest with the rights of a lawful heir.

Definition 2024

legitimate

legitimate

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət/, /ləˈdʒɪtɪmət/

Adjective

legitimate ‎(comparative more legitimate, superlative most legitimate)

  1. In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements; lawful.
    • 2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:
      Rodwell was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson - who has shown 15 red cards since the start of last season - after 23 minutes for what appeared to be a legitimate challenge on Suarez.
  2. Conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards; valid.
    legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard or method
    • (Can we date this quote?) Macaulay
      Tillotson still keeps his place as a legitimate English classic.
  3. Authentic, real, genuine.
    legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions
  4. Lawfully begotten, i.e., born to a legally married couple. [from mid-14th century]
  5. Relating to hereditary rights.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

Legal Latin, from Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimo. See above for antecedents

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ləˈdʒɪtɪmeɪt/

Verb

legitimate ‎(third-person singular simple present legitimates, present participle legitimating, simple past and past participle legitimated)

  1. To make legitimate, lawful, or valid; especially, to put in the position or state of a legitimate person before the law, by legal means. [from 1590]
Usage notes
  • Forms of legitimize are about twice as common as forms of the verb legitimate in the US.
  • Forms of legitimate are somewhat more common than the forms of the verbs legitimize and legitimise in the UK combined.
Synonyms
Derived terms

Latin

Adjective

lēgitimate

  1. vocative masculine singular of lēgitimatus

Etymology

From Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimo ‎(“make legal”). Originally "lawfully begotten," from Middle French legitimer and directly from Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimo ‎(“I make lawful, declare to be lawful”), from Latin legitimus ‎(“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law," from lex ‎(“law”)

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