legitimacyn.
/lᵻˈdʒɪtᵻməsi/, U.S. /ləˈdʒɪdəməsi/ 1. Conformity to the law, to rules, or to some recognized principle; lawfulness. Also: conformity to sound reasoning; logicality; justifiability.
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society > law > rule of law > [noun] > legality or conformity with the law
leefulnessc1449
legality1502
lawfulness1530
legitimateness1618
legitimacy1625
legalness1631
licitness1788
legitimity1815
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > conforming to sound reasoning
legitimacy1625
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > process of inferring, inference > [noun] > product of inferring, an inference > legitimacy of
legitimacy1625
competence1851
1625 E. Chaloner Credo Ecclesiam Sanctam Catholicam i. iv. 17 The Pope may erre euen with a generall Councell at his elbow, in matters of fact which depend vpon information, and the testimonies of men, and such is the question touching the legitimacie of the Pope.
1651 Animadversions in C. Love Case 35 Several other things there are, which much dis-satisfie me touching the legitimacy and well-groundedness of Mr Love's rejoicing and confidence at his death.
1688 P. Pett Happy Future State of Eng. 50 Openly to excuse the putting Gods Mark on the Devils Merchandize, and to stamp in effect a legitimacy on them.
1785 Advice to Officers Brit. Navy 50 People at a distance from a king's port will not be apt to enquire into the legitimacy of your new title.
1800 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Jan. 463 Of the legitimacy of this inference I was convinced.
1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. vi. 218 It has, however, been objected, that the difference in circumstances forbids the legitimacy of our assumption.
1897 T. A. Seed tr. A. Sabatier Outl. Philos. Relig. iii. iv. 340 It [sc. critical symbolism] shows to us the kind of truth and the legitimacy possessed by symbolical ideas.
1939 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 45 171 Power is further distinguished by whether or not the subordinated individuals recognize its legitimacy.
1953 S. K. Langer Introd. Symbolic Logic Pref. 15 The construction of ‘truth-tables’ to test the legitimacy of constructs in a truth-value system.
1974 E. C. Hargrove Power Mod. Presidency i. 20 The legitimacy of a political system to its citizens is perhaps initially built up historically out of that system's effectiveness in meeting national problems.
2009 Fortean Times Sept. 20/3 17th-century Jews in Holland and Germany practised table-turning, and defended its legitimacy as a spiritual technique.
2. † b. The fact of a thing's being what it appears to be; genuineness. Obsolete.
a. The fact of being a legitimate child. Also: the fact of a child's birth being legitimate.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > legitimacy
legitimation1535
mulierty1628
legitimacy1641
naturalness1656
1641 T. Heywood Life of Merlin ix. 75 There was great doubt made of the Legitimacie of his birth.
1691 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 207 A virulent libell..endeavouring to prove the legitimacy of the prince of Wales, is printed.
1762 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII II. xii. 54 It had been formerly usual for the civil courts to issue writs to the spiritual, directing them to enquire into the legitimacy of the person.
1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 40 His own legitimacy, which was too much connected with that of his brothers to be tossed and bandied about before the multitude.
1805 Lancaster Gaz. 16 Mar. 1/3 The establishment of the legitimacy of the children, by which they are rescued from a state of poverty.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xiv. 183 She thought of the child consigned to the nethermost corner of hell, as its double doom for lack of baptism and lack of legitimacy.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 113/2 The presumption of a child's legitimacy is negatived if it be proved that a husband has not had access to his wife within such a period of time as would admit of his being the father.
1960 J. L. Styan Elem. Drama vii. 158 The action is driven along by the growth of the Captain's doubt about the legitimacy of his child.
2000 G. King Duchess Windsor i. 12 A quick, private marriage would at least guarantee the child's legitimacy and thus prevent further scandal.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [noun] > true character, genuineness
sincerity1611
reality1645
genuineness1647
originality1648
naturalness1656
undissembledness1681
legitimacy1695
genuinity1894
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 34 The Legitimacy or Reality of these Marine Bodies vindicated..I now re-assume my original Design.
1808 Belfast Monthly Mag. Sept. 62/1 The features bear too strong a similitude to doubt its legitimacy.
3. The legal right to govern or to sovereignty; spec. the fact or principle of strict hereditary succession to a throne (now rare). Also: the fact of a sovereign's title being derived by regular descent. Now chiefly merged in sense 1.
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society > law > rule of law > [noun] > legality or conformity with the law > specifically of government or sovereignty
legitimacy1812
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > [noun] > derivation by regular descent
legitimacy1812
society > authority > rule or government > politics > political philosophy > principles of or attachment to types of government > [noun] > monarchism > types of
legitimacy1812
legitimism1839
dynasticism1872
1812 Niles' Reg. 1 404/1 I never hear an American citizen speak of the ‘legitimacy’ of princes without indignation or pity.
1825 T. B. Macaulay Milton in Edinb. Rev. Aug. 327 The doctrine of Divine Right—which has now come back to us, like a thief from transportation, under the alias of Legitimacy.
1872 J. L. Sanford Estimates Eng. Kings 368 His [sc. Oliver's] rule only wanted the stamp of legitimacy to entitle it to nearly unmixed praise.
1884 A. R. Pennington Wiclif vi. 180 We may differ in opinion as to the legitimacy of Urban or Clement.
1922 L. A. Lawson Stud. Hist., Econ. & Publ. Law (Columbia Univ.) 103 58 It seemed to the French government that the establishment of independent Bourbon monarchies in Spanish America would..satisfy the principle of legitimacy.
1973 J. A. B. van Buitenen Mahābhārata I. p. xiii The central story of The Mahābhārata takes its matter from the legitimacy of the succession to the kingdom of Kuruksetra in northern India.
4. Australian slang. The fact of being obliged to emigrate to Australia for legal reasons, i.e. as a convict. Cf. legitimate n. 1c. Now rare.
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1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales I. i. 16 The suspicion each entertains of legitimacy being the cause of the other's appearance. [Note] Legitimacy, a colonial term for designating the cause of the emigration of a certain portion of our population; i.e. having legal reasons for making the voyage.
1836 J. F. O'Connell Resid. Eleven Years New Holland 34 Legitimacy, in all other parts of the world a coveted qualification, is in New Holland a term of reproach.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 477/1 Legitimacy, the reason for much early emigration to Australia... Ex the legal necessity of the voyage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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