legitimate

noun

A person born to a legally married couple.

verb

(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.

adjective

In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements.

Conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards; valid.

Authentic, real, genuine.

(of a child) Lawfully begotten, i.e. born to a married couple or later legitimated.

(of a sexual partner) Legally married.

Marital.

Relating to hereditary rights.

Belonging or relating to the legitimate theater.

Roots

lexleg- · Latin · law

Synonyms for legitimate

lawfuladj licitadj legitimatizev legitimizev legit rightfuladj legalizev logicaladj validadj justifiableadj credibleadj genuineadj reasonableadj vindicableadj plausibleadj legaladj

Synonyms & related words for legitimate

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of legitimate — including lawful, licit, legitimatize, legitimize, legit, rightful. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to legitimate

Explore words related to legitimate — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include legitimately, legitimization, legitimacy, legitimation, licitly, illegitimate, licitness, rightfulness. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for legitimate

Common synonyms for legitimate include lawful, licit, legitimatize, legitimize, legit, rightful, legalize, logical — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does legitimate come from?

The word legitimate breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root leg-, from Latin lex (“law”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.