legitimate
v.v. to make something seem fair, legal, or acceptable to other people. You use this when an action or a rule is given official support so that everyone follows it.
v. to make something legitimate, valid, or acceptable; to justify or provide legal sanction for an action or status. Often used in political or sociological contexts regarding the establishment of authority.
The new law will legitimate the current government's actions.
The committee sought to legitimate the new safety protocols by citing several independent scientific studies.
Historians argue that the monarch used public ceremonies to legitimate his rule and suppress any lingering doubts about his right to the throne.
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)).
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object. While 'legitimize' is more common in modern American English, 'legitimate' remains a standard alternative in formal and academic writing.
They tried to legitimate about the decisionThey tried to legitimate the decisionThe verb is transitive and must be followed directly by an object without a preposition.