Legitimate — Defs

01 a. Accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements; lawful; as, legitimate government; legitimate rights; the legitimate s…

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.

02 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 l…

imp. & p. p. Legitimated; p. pr. & vb. n. Legitimating

1.
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.