Dictionary
le•git•i•mate
Pronunciation: (
—adj., n.li-jit'u-mit;
—v.li-jit'u-māt"), [key]
—adj., v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing,
—n.
—
adj.
1. according to law; lawful:
the property's legitimate owner.
2. in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards.
3. born in wedlock or of legally married parents:
legitimate children.
4. in accordance with the laws of reasoning; logically inferable; logical:
a legitimate conclusion.
5. resting on or ruling by the principle of hereditary right:
a legitimate sovereign.
6. not spurious or unjustified; genuine:
It was a legitimate complaint.
7. of the normal or regular type or kind.
8. Theat.of or pertaining to professionally produced stage plays, as distinguished from burlesque, vaudeville, television, motion pictures, etc.:
an actor in the legitimate theater.
—
v.t.
1. to make lawful or legal; pronounce or state as lawful:
Parliament legitimated his accession to the throne.
2. to establish as lawfully born:
His bastard children were afterward legitimated by law.
3. to show or declare to be legitimate or proper:
He was under obligation to legitimate his commission.
4. to justify; sanction or authorize:
His behavior was legitimated by custom.
—
n.
1. the legitimate,the legitimate theater or drama.
2. a person who is established as being legitimate.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
