ENGLISH
REFERENCE

legitimate

adj. · v.
US //ɫəˈdʒɪtəmət// le·git·i·mate
  1. 1 legal (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Law

    allowed by the law or following official rules.

    conforming to the law or to established legal forms and requirements.

    Example

    The company made sure all its business deals were completely legitimate.

    Example

    The court ruled that the contract was legitimate, as it had been signed by both parties under no duress and in accordance with local statutes.
  2. 2 valid or reasonable (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    fair, honest, or based on good reasons.

    conforming to recognized principles or accepted standards; justifiable and valid.

    Example

    It is a legitimate question to ask why the project is over budget.

    Example

    While some critics dismissed the protest, many observers felt the students had legitimate grievances regarding the rising cost of tuition.
Show 2 more sensesShow fewer
  1. 3 real or genuine (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    real and not a fake or a trick.

    authentic, genuine, or real; not spurious or counterfeit.

    Example

    The email looked like a scam, but it turned out to be a legitimate message from the bank.

    Example

    The collector refused to purchase the painting until a legitimate expert could verify its provenance and confirm it was not a clever forgery.
  2. 4 to make legal or acceptable (v.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    to make something legal or to make people accept it as right.

    to make something legitimate, lawful, or valid; to justify or provide a legal basis for an action.

    Example

    The new law will legitimate the status of many workers who were previously undocumented.

    Example

    The government sought to legitimate its controversial intervention by citing several international treaties that permitted such actions in times of crisis.

    Usage

    This is a transitive verb and requires a direct object.
Origin

From Middle English legitimat, legytymat, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, perfect passive participle of Latin lēgitimō (“to make legal”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law," from Latin lēx (“law”). Originally "lawfully begotten". The noun was derived from the adjective within English or earlier by substantivization (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), the verb from the adjective by conversion (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).

Word family

© 2026 English Reference