legitimate definition | Dictionary.com

le⋅git⋅i⋅mate

[adj., n. li-jit-uh-mit; v. li-jit-uh-meyt]

adjective, verb, -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing, noun

–adjective

1.	according to law; lawful: the property's legitimate owner.

2.	in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards.

3.	born in wedlock or of legally married parents: legitimate children.

4.	in accordance with the laws of reasoning; logically inferable; logical: a legitimate conclusion.

5.	resting on or ruling by the principle of hereditary right: a legitimate sovereign.

6.	not spurious or unjustified; genuine: It was a legitimate complaint.

7.	of the normal or regular type or kind.

8.	Theater. of or pertaining to professionally produced stage plays, as distinguished from burlesque, vaudeville, television, motion pictures, etc.: an actor in the legitimate theater.

–verb (used with object)

9.	to make lawful or legal; pronounce or state as lawful: Parliament legitimated his accession to the throne.

10.	to establish as lawfully born: His bastard children were afterward legitimated by law.

11.	to show or declare to be legitimate or proper: He was under obligation to legitimate his commission.

12.	to justify; sanction or authorize: His behavior was legitimated by custom.

–noun

13.	the legitimate, the legitimate theater or drama.

14.	a person who is established as being legitimate.

Origin:
1485–95; < ML lēgitimātus (ptp. of lēgitimāre to make lawful). See legitim, -ate ¹

Related forms:

le⋅git⋅i⋅mate⋅ly, adverb

le⋅git⋅i⋅mate⋅ness, noun

le⋅git⋅i⋅ma⋅tion, noun

Synonyms:
1. legal, licit. 2. sanctioned. 4. valid. 9. legalize.

Antonyms:
1. illegitimate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To legitimate

le·git·i·mate (lə-jĭt'ə-mĭt)

adj.

Being in compliance with the law; lawful: a legitimate business.
Being in accordance with established or accepted patterns and standards: legitimate advertising practices.
Based on logical reasoning; reasonable: a legitimate solution to the problem.
Authentic; genuine: a legitimate complaint.
Born of legally married parents: legitimate issue.
Of, relating to, or ruling by hereditary right: a legitimate monarch.
Of or relating to drama of high professional quality that excludes burlesque, vaudeville, and some forms of musical comedy: the legitimate theater.

tr.v. (-māt') le·git·i·mat·ed, le·git·i·mat·ing, le·git·i·mates
To make legitimate, as:

a. To give legal force or status to; make lawful.

[Middle English legitimat, born in wedlock, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, law-worthy, past participle of lēgitimāre, to make lawful, from Latin lēgitimus, legitimate, from lēx, lēg-, law; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]
le·git'i·mate·ly adv., le·git'i·mate·ness n., le·git'i·ma'tion n., le·git'i·mat'or (-māt'ər) n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Legitimate

Le*git"i*mate\ (-m[asl]t), a. [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, counterfeit, 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.

Legitimate

Le*git"i*mate\ (-m[=a]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Legitimated (-m[=a]`t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Legitimating (-m[=a]`t[i^]ng).] 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.

Language Translation for : legitimate

Spanish: legítimo,

German: gesetzlich,

Japanese: 合法の

More Translations »

legitimate

1494, "having the status of one lawfully begotten," from M.L. legitimatus, pp. of legitimare "make lawful, declare to be lawful," from L. legitimus "lawful," originally "in line with the law," from lex (gen. legis) "law." Transferred sense of "genuine, real" is attested from 1818. Shortened form legit is first recorded 1897 in theater slang.

Main Entry: le·git·i·mate
Pronunciation: l&-'ji-t&-m&t
Function: adjective
Etymology: Medieval Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare to give legal status to, from Latin legitimus legally sanctioned, from leg-, lex law
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 legitimate grievance>
3 : being in accordance with law or with established legal forms and requirements legitimate government>
4 : conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards legitimate claim of entitlement> legitimate business reason> —le·git·i·mate·ly adverb

Main Entry: le·git·i·mate
Pronunciation: l&-'ji-t&-"mAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -mat·ed; -mat·ing
: 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 —le·git·i·ma·tion /l&-"ji-t&-'mA-sh&n/ noun

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