meaning of legitimate
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.
5. Following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a legitimate result; a legitimate inference.
6. 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.
7. make an illegitimate child legitimate; declare the legitimacy of someone; "They legitimized their natural
">child"
Related Words
legitimate | legitimated | legitimately | legitimateness |
