What does legitimate mean?
Definitions for legitimate
lɪˈdʒɪt ə mɪt; -ˌmeɪtle·git·i·mate
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word legitimate.
Princeton's WordNet
legitimateadjective
of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful
legitimate, logicaladjective
based on known statements or events or conditions
"rain was a logical expectation, given the time of year"
legitimateadjective
in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles
"legitimate advertising practices"
lawful, legitimate, licitverb
authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law
"a legitimate government"
legalize, legalise, decriminalize, decriminalise, legitimize, legitimise, legitimate, legitimatize, legitimatiseverb
make legal
"Marijuana should be legalized"
legitimateverb
show or affirm to be just and legitimate
legitimateverb
make (an illegitimate child) legitimate; declare the legitimacy of (someone)
"They legitimized their natural child"
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
LEGITIMATEadjective
Born in marriage; lawfully begotten.
Etymology: from legitimus, Lat. legitime, French.
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land;
Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund. William Shakespeare.An adulterous person is tied to make provision for the children begotten in unlawful embraces, that they may do no injury to the legitimate, by receiving a common portion. Jeremy Taylor, Rule of Holy Living.
To Legitimateverb
Etymology: legitimer, Fr. from the adjective.
Legitimate him that was a bastard. John Ayliffe, Parergon.
It would be impossible for any enterprize to be lawful, if that which should legitimate it is subsequent to it, and can have no influence to make it good or bad. Decay of Piety.
ChatGPT
legitimate
Legitimate is defined as being in compliance with the law or accepted standards or rules, or conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards. It refers to something or someone that is legal, rightful, valid, or genuine. Legitimate can be used in various contexts such as law, business, and casual settings, referring to authority, power, actions, births, transactions, etc.
Webster Dictionary
Legitimateadjective
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
Legitimateadjective
lawfully begotten; born in wedlock
Legitimateadjective
authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfeit, or spurious; as, legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions
Legitimateadjective
conforming to known principles, or accepted rules; as, legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard, or method; a legitimate combination of colors
Legitimateadjective
following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a legitimate result; a legitimate inference
Legitimateverb
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
Etymology: [LL. legitimatus, p. p. of legitimare to legitimate, fr. L. legitimus legitimate. See Legal.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Legitimate
le-jit′i-māt, adj. lawful: lawfully begotten, born in wedlock: fairly deduced: following by natural sequence: authorised by usage.—v.t. to make lawful: to give the rights of a legitimate child to an illegitimate one.—n. Legit′imacy, state of being legitimate: lawfulness of birth: regular deduction: directness of descent as affecting the royal succession.—adv. Legit′imately.—ns. Legit′imateness, lawfulness; Legitimā′tion, act of rendering legitimate, esp. of conferring the privileges of lawful birth.—v.t. Legit′imise (same as Legitimate).—n. Legit′imist, one who supports legitimate authority: in France, a follower of the elder Bourbon line (descendants of Louis XIV.), as opposed to the Orleanists or supporters of the descendants of the Duke of Orleans, Louis XIV.'s brother.—Legitimate drama, a designation frequently applied to the representation of Shakespeare's plays—often employed as vaguely indicating approval of the drama of some former time. [Low L. legitimāre. -ātum—L. legitimus, lawful—lex, law.]
Editors Contribution
legitimate
In accordance with the relevant legislation.
The fuel costs for the business are legitimate.
Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020
British National Corpus
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'legitimate' in Adjectives Frequency: #752
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of legitimate in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of legitimate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of legitimate in a Sentence
We are trying to meet the legitimate medical need while balancing the amount of material manufactured because the excess material can ultimately lead to diversion.
Storming the Capitol in an attempt to hold the peaceful transition of power is not legitimate political discourse, neither is attacking and injuring over 140 police officers, smashing windows and defiling offices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin:
I can tell you what we do not want: we do not want Syria to end like Iraq or Libya, look at Egypt: one has to praise President Sisi for taking over the responsibility and power in an emergency situation, in order to stabilize the country. Therefore, one should try anything to support the legitimate rulers in Syria.
Making sure Georgia’s voter rolls are up to date is key to ensuring the integrity of our elections, that is why I fought and beat Stacey Abrams in court in 2019 to remove nearly 300,000 obsolete voter files before the November election, and will do so again this year. Bottom line, there is no legitimate reason to keep ineligible voters on the rolls.
This wedding is extra special because we have a legitimate interest in the wedding, it is like we have an invite.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for legitimate
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- legítimCatalan, Valencian
- legitim, gültigGerman
- νόμιμοςGreek
- dligheachScottish Gaelic
- lexítimoGalician
- לגיטימיHebrew
- legitimHungarian
- īstens, īstsLatvian
- legítimoPortuguese
- легитимный, легальный, действительный, настоящий, правильный, законнорождённый, законныйRussian
- laglig, inomäktenskaplig, legal, lagenlig, legitimSwedish
- ถูกกฎหมายThai
- جائزUrdu
Get even more translations for legitimate »
Translation
Find a translation for the legitimate definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"legitimate." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/legitimate>.
Discuss these legitimate definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In