lawful, legitimate, licit
(adjective) authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law; “a legitimate government”
legitimate
(adjective) of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful
legitimate
(adjective) in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles; “legitimate advertising practices”
legitimate, logical
(adjective) based on known statements or events or conditions; “rain was a logical expectation, given the time of year”
legitimate
(verb) make (an illegitimate child) legitimate; declare the legitimacy of (someone); “They legitimized their natural child”
legitimate
(verb) show or affirm to be just and legitimate
legalize, legalise, decriminalize, decriminalise, legitimize, legitimise, legitimate, legitimatize, legitimatise
(verb) make legal; “Marijuana should be legalized”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
legitimate (comparative more legitimate, superlative most legitimate)
In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements.
Synonyms: lawful, legal
Antonym: illegitimate
Conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards; valid.
• Macaulay
Authentic, real, genuine.
Antonym: illegitimate
Antonym: false
Lawfully begotten, i.e, born to a legally married couple. [from mid-14th century]
Synonym: rightful
Antonym: illegitimate
Relating to hereditary rights.
legitimate (plural legitimates)
A person born to a legally married couple.
• bastard
• illegitimate
legitimate (third-person singular simple present legitimates, present participle legitimating, simple past and past participle legitimated)
(transitive) To make legitimate, lawful, or valid; especially, to put in the position or state of a legitimate person before the law, by legal means. [from 1590]
• Forms of legitimize are about twice as common as forms of the verb legitimate in the US.
• Forms of legitimate are somewhat more common than the forms of the verbs legitimize and legitimise (combined) in the UK.
• legitimize
Source: Wiktionary
Le*git"i*mate, a. Etym: [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.
Le*git"i*mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Legitimated; p. pr. & vb. n. Legitimating.]
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
14 March 2025
(noun) the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)
Espresso is both a coffee beverage and a brewing method that originated in Italy. When making an espresso, a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure forces through finely-ground coffee beans. It has more caffeine per unit volume than most coffee beverages. Its smaller serving size will take three shots to equal a mug of standard brewed coffee.