LEGITIMACY
Le*git"i*ma*cy, n. Etym: [See Legitimate, a.]
Defn: The state, or quality, of being legitimate, or in conformity with law; hence, the condition of having been lawfully begotten, or born in wedlock. The doctrine of Divine Right, which has now come back to us, like a thief from transportation, under the alias of Legitimacy. Macaulay.
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.
LEGITIMATE
Le*git"i*mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Legitimated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Legitimating.]
Defn: 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.