legitimate Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb make legal
legitimatize; decriminalize; legitimatise; legalise; legalize; legitimise; decriminalise; legitimize.
- Marijuana should be legalized
verb show or affirm to be just and legitimate
verb make (an illegitimate child) legitimate; declare the legitimacy of (someone)
- They legitimized their natural child
adjective of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful
adjective satellite based on known statements or events or conditions
logical.
- rain was a logical expectation, given the time of year
adjective satellite in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles
- legitimate advertising practices
adjective satellite authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law
licit; lawful.
- a legitimate government

LL. legitimatus, p. p. of legitimare to legitimate, fr. L. legitimus legitimate. See Legal.

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.
Lawfully begotten; born in wedlock.
Authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfeit, or spurious; as, legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions.
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.
Following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a legitimate result; a legitimate inference.

imperfect & past participle Legitimated ; present participle & verbal noun Legitimating

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.