LEGITIMATELY
legitimately
(adverb) in a lawfully recognized manner; “let’s get married so our child can be born legitimately”
legitimately, lawfully, licitly
(adverb) in a manner acceptable to common custom; “you cannot do this legitimately!”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adverb
legitimately (comparative more legitimately, superlative most legitimately)
In a legitimate manner, properly.
Source: Wiktionary
Le*git"i*mate*ly, adv.
Definition: In a legitimate manner; lawfully; genuinely.
LEGITIMATE
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
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Word of the Day
2 April 2025
COVERT
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
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