| legitimate |
| |
| —adj |
| 1. | born in lawful wedlock; enjoying full filial rights |
| 2. | conforming to established standards of usage, behaviour, etc |
| 3. | based on correct or acceptable principles of reasoning |
| 4. | reasonable, sensible, or valid: a legitimate question |
| 5. | authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law |
| 6. | of, relating to, or ruling by hereditary right: a legitimate monarch |
| 7. | of or relating to a body of famous long-established plays as distinct from films, television, vaudeville, etc: the legitimate theatre |
| |
| —vb |
| 8. | (tr) to make, pronounce, or show to be legitimate |
| |
| [C15: from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus made legal, from lēx law] |
| |
| le'gitimacy |
| |
| —n |
| |
| le'gitimateness |
| |
| —n |
| |
| le'gitimately |
| |
| —adv |
| |
| legiti'mation |
| |
| —n |
