[adj., n. li-jit-uh-mit; v. li-jit-uh-meyt] 
adjective, verb, -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing, noun | 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. |
| 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. |
| 13. | the legitimate, the legitimate theater or drama. |
| 14. | a person who is established as being legitimate. |
| le·git·i·mate (lə-jĭt'ə-mĭt) adj.
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. |
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