Definition of legitimate
- a. - 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.
- a. - Lawfully begotten; born in wedlock.
- a. - Authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfeit, or
spurious; as, legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions.
- a. - Conforming to known principles, or accepted rules; as,
legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard, or method; a legitimate
combination of colors.
- a. - Following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a
legitimate result; a legitimate inference.
- v. t. - 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.