legitimateadj.adv.n.
/lᵻˈdʒɪtᵻmət/, U.S. /ləˈdʒɪdəmət/ A. adj.
1.
a. Conforming to the law or to rules; sanctioned or authorized by law or right principles; lawful; proper.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > [adjective]
righteOE
kindc1300
rightfulc1330
truec1384
righteous1391
lawfula1400
just?1435
legitimec1450
legitimatea1460
verya1466
justc1540
reable1581
sib1701
competent1765
society > law > rule of law > [adjective] > in accordance with the law
lawlya1250
leefulc1275
leal1352
lawfula1398
leesome?a1400
lisiblea1420
legitimec1450
legitimatea1460
coursable1478
licit1483
legal1671
above boarda1695
enabled1729
legit1907
a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) l. 539 (MED) This werk they calle a dike tumultuary; To stynte a rore, and if the foo be kene, Legytymat dykinge [L. legitima fossa] is necessary.
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke ii. ii. f. xxxviii He was compelled to be consecrated preest, and so was the election legitimate, when he was kyng & preest.
1568 W. Fulwood Enimie Idlenesse iii. f. 105v I knowing hir worthy of a husband, haue thought good this yere to mary hir, and to giue hir to Hely Loyer, for his legitimate and lawfull spouse.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 13 An evill that should last so long, might in some sort seeme to be made Legitimate.
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 17 The Text therefore uses this phrase, that they shall bee one flesh, to justify and make legitimat the rites of Mariage bed.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 257 A Legitimate Husband.
1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. vi. 171 The Khalifa of Bagdad..the legitimate Successor of Mahomet.
1793 tr. in Beawes's Civil Hist. Spain & Portugal I. xx. 527 The Pilots, Boatswains, and other Sea Officers, who shall have legitimate Appointments..shall be free from entering the Lotting.
1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 79 They [sc. the Moors] are a nation..without a legitimate country or a name.
1852 H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith 436 There is..a legitimate way of influencing the will.
1894 Congress. Rec. 25 Apr. 4098/1 Is it a legitimate expenditure of the public money?
1940 W. V. T. Clark Ox-bow Incident ii. 43 We must act in a reasoned and legitimate manner, not as a lawless mob.
1974 S. Terkel Working iii. 134 I'm the element that stands between the legitimate person and the criminal.
2012 Independent 24 Nov. 1/3 But town hall chiefs warned the moves could backfire by taking business away from legitimate shops and market stalls.
b. Normal, regular; conformable to a recognized standard type.spec. †(a) (of a gun) having the correct proportion between barrel and bore (cf. bastard adj. 4a) (obsolete); †(b) (of a disease) = exquisite adj. (obsolete); †(c) (British Horse Racing) designating the season for flat racing (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [adjective] > other characteristics
hoteOE
redeOE
foulOE
elvishc1386
dryc1400
whitec1450
Naples1507
shaking1528
cold1569
exquisite1583
unpure1583
waterish1583
wandering1585
legitimate1615
sulphureous1625
tetrous1637
cagastrical1662
medical1676
ambulatory1684
ebullient1684
frantic1709
animated1721
progressive1736
cagastric1753
vegetative1803
left-handed1804
specific1804
subacute1811
animate1816
gregarious1822
vernal1822
ambilateral1824
subchronic1831
regressive1845
nummular1866
postoperative1872
ambulant1873
non-surgical1888
progredient1891
spodogenous1897
spodogenic19..
non-invasive1932
early-onset1951
adult-onset1957
non-specific1964
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > conformity to or with a pattern, etc. > [adjective] > conforming to a standard rule > standard
canonical1553
canonial1589
normal1598
standard1603
legitimate1615
classic1648
legitime1651
classical1751
canonic1850
normative1852
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [adjective] > accurately so named > of disease
exquisite1583
legitimate1615
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 334 I call that a lawfull or legitimate birth which commeth in due time, & that illigitimate which happeneth before or after the due time.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. 64 Gunners call them Legitimate Pieces, as have due length of their Chase, according to the height of their bores; Bastard Pieces are such as have shorter Chases, than the Proportion of their Bore doth require.
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician v. 161 The Physician must not use astringents, in a legitimate Burning fever.
1724 J. Maubray Female Physician xxxviii. 159 That Assertion of a Legitimate Birth's requiring, not only a certain and prefinite Number of Days, but also of Hours and Minutes.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Delivery A Legitimate Delivery, is that which happens at the just Term, i. e. in the 10th Lunar Month.
1824 Hymns Suppl. Coll. Psalms (ed. 10) Pref. p. xv The Hymns..were sung in the Christian Church for more than a thousand years before that intrusion of the Old and New Versions, which silenced the legitimate music of the Church.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiv. 468 Tillotson still keeps his place as a legitimate English classic.
1888 Sportsman 28 Nov. (Farmer) The winding up of the legitimate season.
1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf vi. 129 The seasons used to be distinguished as the ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’, but the expressions are less common than they were.
1928 Cent. Mag. Aug. 452/2 Scores of legitimate proprietary medicines..are used, in conjunction with rare eloquence, to wheedle dimes and dollars from the stay-at-homes.
1939 H. J. Massingham Eng. Countryside iv. 73 These are the legitimate South Downs, the over-written and exploited range.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 24 Nor is it [sc. the city] avoiding the inevitable responsibility of building a smaller legitimate house.
2014 Guardian 4 Oct. 36/1 With 6,000 or more new tagged videos uploaded to YouTube each day, GoPro-ing is now a legitimate phenomenon.
c. Of a monarch, sovereignty, etc.: justified or validated by the strict principle of hereditary right.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > [adjective] > resting on hereditary right
legitimatea1643
a1643 J. Spelman Case of Affaires (1644) 11 The regular working of true legitimate Soveraignitie.
1722 J. Henley tr. R. A. de Vertot Crit. Hist. Establishm. Bretons I. ii. 238 By what Authority has he put those Phantoms in the Places of the Kings of France, the legitimate Sovereigns of all Bretagne?
1794 W. Beaumont tr. J.-J. Barthélemy Trav. Anacharsis (ed. 2) IV. xl. 39 He refused an honour to which he had a legitimate title by his birth.
1821 H. Coleridge in London Mag. Nov. 477/2 We like the style of the Legitimate Poets, as we respect the courts of Legitimate Monarchs.
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iii. vi. 90 But in these days a great capitalist has deeper roots than a sovereign prince, unless he is very legitimate.
1860 Sat. Rev. 14 Apr. 457/1 It is not in irony, but in sober earnest, that we express our belief, that any throne is, in practice, called legitimate which has not had the consent of the nation to its..existence.
1912 P. Allen (title) The last legitimate King of France.
1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic vii. 195 Only the legitimate king could heal the scrofulous.
2009 A. Weir Mistress of Monarchy iv. 96 Constance had been willed the throne of Castile by her father, King Pedro, and was regarded as its legitimate queen by his followers.
d. Designating or relating to art accorded superior status on the grounds of aesthetic merit or serious intent.
(a) Conventional theatre or drama (as opposed to musical comedy, farce, etc.), esp. in the legitimate drama: the body of plays, Shakespearean or other, that have a recognized theatrical and literary merit. Also: designating or relating to a theatre which presents plays of this type.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [adjective] > having recognized merit
legitimate1751
legit1908
1751 R. Hurd Notes in Horace Epistola ad Augustum 91 The form of the Greek..which was incorporated into the legitimate drama, and found essential to its true form.
1812 Theatr. Inquisitor Oct. 72 Mr. E. treads closely upon the heels of the legitimate stage.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) Pref. p. xviii (note) While I was in the sub-committee of Drury Lane Theatre,..we did our best to bring back the legitimate drama.
1884 E. Yates Recoll. & Experiences I. v. 211 My youthful admiration of Shakespeare and the legitimate drama.
1922 I. Goldberg Drama of Transition 354 This pattern was to cling to the Yiddish stage with a grip that long stifled all genuine progress towards the legitimate drama.
1947 K. S. Walker Brief for Ballet 79 Most dancers can vary themselves surprisingly, and enjoy it, and they are typed far less than is the case on the legitimate stage.
1952 N.Y. Herald Tribune 28 Aug. 16/7 A revision of New York City's building code to spur the construction of new legitimate theaters.
1972 N.Y. Times 3 Nov. 1/1 The new hotel would include..a legitimate theater.
1975 Scottish Field Jan. 9/1 With his feet now firmly planted in both acting spheres—the so-called legitimate theatre and the pantomime lark—this young-looking veteran [sc. Rikki Fulton]..feels fit to accept any professional challenge.
1999 J. Glavin After Dickens (2004) 114 Ultimately, the legitimate drama found itself depending on something akin to circus to keep itself alive.
(b) Music regarded as serious, esp. as distinct from jazz or popular music.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [adjective] > classical or serious
classical1829
legit1908
legitimate1913
straight1926
longhair1938
serious1960
1913 Musical Times 1 May 316 If theatre managers were to show their respect for legitimate music, and at the same time their disrespect..for flippant and irrelevant music, we should soon arrive..at a reasonable behaviour on the part of audiences.
1927 Melody Maker Apr. 359/2 The number lends itself exceptionally well to the symphonic treatment it has been given, the orchestration is very fine and the modulated passages and general arrangement make it, although a little too ‘legitimate’ for dancing, perfect from a concert point of view.
1933 Fortune Aug. 94 Other jazz heroes such as the Dorseys..have become more or less legitimate musicians for radio purposes.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues App. I. 341 The New Orleans drum patterns..were closest to ‘legitimate’ music.
1969 New Yorker 20 Dec. 52/3 It would have been interesting if he had made similar measurements during a performance by a ‘commercial’—that is, a jazz or dance-band—player..to compare with those of a ‘legitimate’, or symphonic, player.
2015 J. Church Music Direct. for Stage ii. 38 There is far more employment for stage music directors than for conductors of legitimate music.
e. Sanctioned by the laws of reasoning; logically admissible or inferable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [adjective]
logical?a1513
legitime1532
logic1570
legitimate1774
logic1869
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > argument, source of conviction > [adjective] > strong, valid, convincing
justa1413
pregnanta1425
well-disposedc1449
pregnablea1500
legitime1532
concludent1571
potent1609
solid1615
concluding1620
valida1648
valuable1647
conclusive1649
cogent1659
legitimate1774
well-taken1789
1774 T. Reid Brief Acct. Aristotle's Logic iii. §3, in Ld. Kames Sketches Hist. Man II. iii. 198 There is only one legitimate mode in which an universal affirmative proposition can be proved.
1797 Encycl. Brit. x. 221/2 If the first principles be clear and evident, and every syllogism in some legitimate mode or figure, the conclusion of the whole must infallibly be admitted.
1814 D. Stewart Elem. Philos. Human Mind II. iii. §1. 247 Every such process of reasoning..may be resolved into a series of legitimate syllogisms.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. ix. 249 This bloody catastrophe was a legitimate result of the policy which he advised.
1910 Michigan Rep. 159 349 We have gone carefully over the testimony and find nothing from which a legitimate inference can be drawn.
1952 R. L. Wilder Introd. Found. Math. iv. 88 Some mathematicians do not admit the existence of an uncountable set of real numbers as a legitimate consequence of the argument.
2009 S. Duck & D. T. McMahan Basics of Communication xiii. 378 When using inductive reasoning, a sufficient number of examples or instances must exist from which to draw a legitimate conclusion.
f. In weakened sense: valid or acceptable; justifiable, reasonable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adjective] > being within reason
reasonablea1382
legitimate1809
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > [adjective]
justified?1531
well-justified1644
legitimate1809
well-warranted1876
1809 Monthly Rev. July 327 This laughing bard has employed the term Agriculturism to denote a bastard kind of Agriculture, which has nothing really useful belonging to it, and therefore becomes a legitimate object of ridicule.
1847 New Sporting Mag. July 82 The system of adopting leggism as a legitimate part and parcel of horse-racing is one that must soon explode.
1864 Sat. Rev. 18 445/2 Objurgating impotence has always been a legitimate subject for ridicule.
1894 Daily News 17 Jan. 3/1 The most nosey visitor has no legitimate ground for offence from organic causes.
1934 G. Greene It's a Battlefield ii. 103 They were careful never to give him reason for legitimate complaints; they sprang to his orders as they would never have sprung to the orders of a man they liked.
1958 P. Gibbs Curtains of Yesterday xvii. 143 I have a perfectly legitimate reason for coming.., but what's yours, old boy?
1995 Daily Tel. 14 Mar. 17/7 It is legitimate to abridge a classic, so long as it is done with tact and sympathy,..just as it is legitimate to novelise an original screenplay.
2.
a. Of a child: having the status of one born to parents lawfully married to each other, entitled in law to full filial rights; of a parent: lawfully married to the other parent of a child; of status, descent, etc.: of or through such parents or children.By the Legitimacy Acts of 1926 and 1959 a child born of unmarried parents becomes legitimate if they subsequently marry.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [adjective] > legitimate
full-bornlOE
born in (or under or out of) wedlockc1275
kindlya1300
mulierc1400
legitimatea1464
mulieryc1475
lawfulc1480
naturala1500
mulierly1506
lawfully1512
native1567
loyal1608
lineala1616
full-begotten1636
(on) the right side of the blanket1842
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 205 Of þis woman cam many childirn, whech were aftir legittimat—so semeth it þat þei were bore befor þis mariage.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ccxxv. f. cxlvii This kynge wyllyam vsed alwey lemmans wherefore he dyed without Issu legyttymat.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. ix. f. 137 The children of their owne wyues, they counte to bee not legitimate.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge v. v. sig. K2v Thy true begotten, most legitimate And loued issue.
1683 Britanniæ Speculum 173 By Lineal and Legitimate Descent the true and unquestionable Heir.
1734 R. Keith Hist. Affairs Church & State Scotl. ii. xii. 403 Lady Lochlevin..bragged besides, that she herself was King James V's. lawful wife, and her Son..his legitimate Issue, and true Heir of the Crown.
1762 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII II. xii. 54 The common law had deemed all those bastards who were born before wedlock: By the canon law they were legitimate.
1838 E. W. Lane in tr. Thousand & One Nights (1839) I. i. Notes62 The offspring of his female slave..if begotten by him..he may recognise as his own legitimate child.
1885 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 29 270 Had been the lawful wife of the testator, and Adelinda his legitimate daughter by her.
1920 E. O. Lundberg & K. F. Lenroot Illegitimacy as Child-welfare Probl. I. U.S. Dept. Labor: Children's Bureau Publ. No. 66. 41 The Norwegian law..gives a child born out of wedlock the same right of inheritance that is given a child of legitimate birth.
1968 J. J. Scarisbrick Henry VIII xiv. 484 He showed no sign of the tuberculosis which carried off..his legitimate son and heir Edward.
2014 Sunday Times Mag. (Nexis) 7 Dec. In most countries of Europe..it is virtually impossible to disinherit a legitimate child.
b. Having real existence; being in accordance with appearance; genuine, not spurious. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [adjective] > genuine, real
soothc888
soothlyc888
soothfastc1175
germanec1384
truea1398
sickera1400
upright?a1500
uncounterfeita1542
righteous1543
legitimate1551
truepennya1556
arrant1570
uncounterfeited1571
real1573
current1578
genuinal1599
unforged1610
unpretended1611
legitime1614
unabusinga1628
Lubish1632
genuine1639
undissembled1651
undissimulate1652
ingenuine1661
infallacious1677
real live1684
unfalsified1688
unmistaken1694
pukka1776
undissimulated1776
unassumed1818
uncynical1824
Simon Pure1834
sure-enough1837
unsimulated1840
straight-out1848
true blue1852
veritable1862
really (and) truly1864
authentic1868
true-metal1868
kosher1896
twenty-four carat1900
honest to goodness1905
echt1916
dinky-di1918
McCoy1928
twenty-two carat1962
right1969
1551 Bible (Matthew's) Apocrypha To Rdr. They are not receaued nor taken as legyttymate and leafull, as wel of the Hebrues as of the whole Churche.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xxvi. vii. 1036 By the taste..we..distinguish the true legitimate [medicines] from the adulterate.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 327 Mr. B. maintains Astypala to be a legitimate word, because we read it Ἀστυπάχη in the present Copy of Scylax.
1804 European Mag. 45 347/2 The above remarks do not apply to what I shall call collections of legitimate remains.
1858 Amer. Publishers' Circular & Lit. Gaz. 20 Feb. 91/2 It is the only genuine legitimate edition in the English language.
1914 T. P. Terry Terry's Japanese Empire (1919) 760 Legitimate stones are to be had by those who know them, but care must be exercised that glass copies are not substituted for them.
1988 Weekly World News 22 Nov. 33 A scarce, legitimate gem stone from the mines of the State of Golas.
B. adv.
= legitimately adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [adverb] > legitimately
muliera1450
muliery?1530
legitimate1574
1574 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 427 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 Both he and his chyldren of his body legytymat begotten.
1859 W. Chadwick Life & Times D. Defoe ii. 58 If he had been a vagrant bastard instead of a legitimate-born man and son-in-law of a King of England, they could not have treated him with more jealousy or suspicion.
1884 R. West & J. G. Bühler tr. Digest Hindu Law (ed. 3) II. 1012 The husband and wife must be joint parents of the legitimate begotten son.
1920 Pacific Reporter 188 44/2 Those acts which are usual to the father of a legitimate child and legitimate born child.
2003 S. Maclean Kingship & Politics in Late Ninth Cent. viii. 231 Only legitimate-born male Carolingians were perceived to be rightful candidates for kingship throughout the ninth century.
C. n.† 2. Something to which one has a legitimate title. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. A legitimate child. Also: a legitimate heir (also in figurative sense). In quot. 1695: a legitimate member of the royal family.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun] > legitimate child
mulierc1400
legitimate1583
legit1955
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Hvv I had rather we had many legittimats, than many illegittimates.
1616 J. Selden Notes upon Fortescue 48 (margin) in R. Mulcaster tr. J. Fortescue De Laudibus Legum Angliæ Many Bastards are better then legitimats.
1695 tr. Present State Europe Jan. 28 As for the Persons that are to be tax'd, they are divided into Twenty two Classes's. In the first are comprehended the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Chartres, the Prince of Conti, the Legitimates of France, the Chancellor and the General Farmers.
1703 Athenian Oracle I. 222/2 The Cross bar must have been chang'd from the Bastards Scutcheon to the Legitimates.
1771 tr. A.-J. Pernety Hist. Voy. Malouine Islands 146 These children inherit nearly as the legitimates do.
1842 C. Whitehead Richard Savage III. vi. 180 Their legitimates do them small honour, sometimes.
1865 Dublin Univ. Mag. 65 8/1 Legitimates and natural children were brought up..or shaken-up together.
1912 J. Lisle tr. L. Miraglia Compar. Legal Philos. xx. 730 It follows, of course, that the legitimated son has the same rights as the legitimates.
1964 P. Shaffer Royal Hunt of Sun i. v. 17 The clothed hunt the naked; the legitimates hunt the bastards, and put down the word Gentleman to blot up the blood.
2011 R. Kerridge in M. Anderson & E. Arroyo i Amayuelas Law Succession vii. 141 He can choose to benefit..the legitimates rather than the illegitimates, or vice versa, and so on.
b. A supporter or advocate of political legitimacy, esp. the strict hereditary succession to a throne, a legitimist; spec. a supporter of the claim of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty to the French throne. Also: a legitimate monarch. Cf. sense A. 1c. Now historical.In quot. 1998: a member of a faction of the Ohio Democratic Republican party in the early 19th cent. which claimed the right to determine the acceptability of candidates for office.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > [noun] > legitimate
legitimate1817
society > authority > rule or government > politics > political philosophy > principles of or attachment to types of government > [noun] > monarchism > types of > adherent of
juredivinist1681
legitimate1817
legitimatist1830
legitimist1831
hereditist1874
1817 Analectic Mag. Oct. 274 The Quarterly, belongs to the ultra-royalists, the legitimates, the treasury-bench optimists.
1830 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Apr. 525 The experiment of what has been termed constitutional government, has been tried and failed. The legitimates refused this, while they might have had it.
1850 R. W. Emerson Napoleon in Representative Men vi. 237 No longer the throne was occupied..by a small class of legitimates.
1875 Papers relating to Foreign Relations U.S. (U.S. Dept. of State) I. 461 Great was the joy of the legitimates and the Bonapartists..when they saw..that all the efforts to pass constitutional laws were likely to prove abortive.
1932 China Weekly Rev. 18 June 91 The latter group [sc. those who maintain that the Czar must be Grand Duke Ciril] are known as the legitimates.
1998 D. J. Ratcliffe Party Spirit in Frontier Republic viii. 217 The Legitimates persuaded enough Republicans in the northern counties, especially in Coshocton County, to desert Wright.
2003 S. Zonneveld Sir Brooke Boothby ix. 423 Sir Brooke referred to King Frederick VI of Denmark.., who supported Napoleon, and as a consequence was forced by the Legitimates to cede Norway to Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel.
c. Australian slang. A person sent to Australia as a convict (i.e. for legitimate or legal reasons). Cf. legitimacy n. 4; illegitimate n. b. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > transported convict
transport felon1766
transport1767
croppy1800
canary1827
legitimate1827
canary bird1839
transportee1883
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxiv. 116 Our society is divided into circles as in England... Next, we have the legitimates, or cross-breds,—namely, such as have legal reasons for visiting this colony; and the illegitimates, or such as are free from that stigma.
1861 Meliora 3 257/1 Those who had legal reasons for being forwarded to the colony were Legitimates; while those not so favoured by the law of the mother-country were styled Illegitimates.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. ii. 41 A large number of synonyms for convict became current, among them..legitimate (i.e. a person with a legitimate or legal reason for coming to Australia).
1986 R. Hughes Fatal Shore (1988) 346 In the 1820s, the polite form was government man or legitimate, and these were later displaced by exile or even empire-builder.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > [noun] > one's right(s)
i-rihtsc1000
rightc1300
judgementc1350
duec1450
droit1481
shayth1542
say1614
legitimate1650
pretension1710
entitlement1782
1650 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης (ed. 2) i. 13 Many Princes have bin rigorous in laying taxes on thir Subjects by the head, but of any King heertofore that made a levy upon thir witt, and seisd it as his own legitimat, I have not whom beside to instance.
3. Theatre slang. A legitimate theatre or actor. Also: †a writer of legitimate drama (obsolete). Also (with the): = the legitimate drama at sense A. 1d(a).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [noun] > other types or branches
satyric1693
legitimate1826
boulevard theatre1838
satyr drama1839
tragicomic1842
costume drama1847
Sardoodledom1895
slice of life1895
cape and sword (also cape and cloak)1898
total theatre1935
epic theatre1938
Theatre of Cruelty1954
music theatre1957
psychodramatics1957
reader's theatre1957
metatheatre1960
Theatre of the Absurd1961
nautanki1962
Theatre of Fact1966
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > [noun] > other types of theatre
little theatre1569
private house1604
private playhouse1609
amphitheatre1611
private theatre1633
droll-house1705
summer theatre1761
show shop1772
national theatre1816
minor1821
legitimate1826
patent house1827
patent theatre1836
showboat1839
music theatre1849
penny-gaff1856
saloon theatre1864
leg shop1871
people's theatre1873
nickelodeon1888
repertory theatre1891
studio theatre1891
legit1897
blood-tub1906
rep1906
small-timer1910
grind house1923
theatrette1927
indie1928
vaude1933
straw hat1935
theatre-in-the-round1948
straw-hatter1949
bughouse1952
theatre-restaurant1958
dinner theatre1959
theatre club1961
black box1971
pub theatre1971
performance space1972
1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. 265 Certain pedants, however, demand the classical, legitimate drama. Now, I ask what, and where, is it?..Are Cibber, Sir Richard Steel, Voltaire, and Racine, the real legitimates?
1831 Metropolitan 1 159 In addition to the Haymarket and English Opera House, those usual legitimates of the summer, we have now the Garrick, the Pavilion, the Milton Street.
1843 Knickerbocker Mag. 21 485 Such honors as the grateful hearts of all admirers of the ‘true legitimate’ can bestow, have been showered upon this son of genius.
1877 Era Almanack 97 Always willing to patronise the legitimate.
1880 Dial 1 109/1 The important part which elocution played on the stage during the reign of the ‘legitimate’ is well illustrated by some of the anecdotes which Mr. Murdoch has preserved.
1909 P. G. Williams in Sat. Evening Post 5 June 17/2 The vaudeville actor is much more thrifty than his colleague in the legitimate.
1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage xvi. 207 The principal comedian of Have a Nibble..scandalizes the ‘legitimates’ by discarding the jacket of his sprightly plus-four suit.
1947 N. Marsh Final Curtain v. 84 I haven't got the wind for dancing..and the ‘legitimate’ gives me a pain in the neck.
1984 F. G. Couvares Remaking of Pittsburgh iii. 41 The legitimates made their melodramatic offerings as sensational as possible.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
legitimatev.
/lᵻˈdʒɪtᵻˌmeɪt/, U.S. /ləˈdʒɪdəˌmeɪt/ 1. transitive. To make lawful, to legalize; to authorize by legal enactment. In early use: to give (a person) a legal claim to (something).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > [verb (transitive)] > give legal right to
legitimate1494
intitule1584
enright1587
interess1587
invest1587
endow1601
patent1789
society > law > rule of law > [verb (transitive)] > legalize
leala1375
legitimate1596
civilize1643
legitimize1646
justify1651
legalize1652
legitimatize1693
decriminalize1972
1494 in W. Fraser Lennox (1874) II. 152 Ane lachfull dispensation to legittimate the matrimone.
1530 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student xlii. f. cxv Whether the pope maye legytymate one to temporall thynges.
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xi. lxviii. 287 With marrage, that legitimates our Propagation.
1657 T. Wall Comment on Times 65 These men can do more then God, they can legitimate any wickedness.
1680 W. Petyt Britannia Languens iv. 37 Our Merchants..have gotten an Act of Parliament to Legitimate the exporting of Bullion.
1715 R. Bentley Serm. Popery 11 Nay a particular Edition shall be legitimated and consecrated.
1798 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 25 566 Their feudal laws, by legitimating orderly gradations of oppression, completed the misfortune of the times.
1809 J. Adams Inadmissible Princ. King of England's Proclam. 7 What is impressment of seamen?.. No parliament ever dared to legitimate or sanction it.
1869 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 Sept. 10 He not only supplies himself with a magazine of arms, but with a portfolio of judges' orders legitimating their use.
1922 F. Franklin What Prohibition has done to Amer. viii. 85 By which means beer and light wines would be legitimated.
1972 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 26 Mar. 7/2 It frightens me because no notion in world history has ever legitimated the use of marijuana.
2009 R. Waterson Paths & Rivers xii. 262 It is their involvement that legitimates the marriage in the eyes of the community.
2. transitive. To give the status of a legitimate child to, as by subsequent marriage; to establish the legitimacy of (a person) by an authoritative declaration or decree. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > [verb (transitive)] > legalize > make (person) legitimate
legitimate1577
legitimize1646
legitimatize1693
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > have a child [verb (transitive)] > render legitimate
legitimate1577
legitimize1646
legitimatize1693
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1090/1 The duke of Lancaster caused to bee legittimated the issue whiche he had begotte of Katherin Swinfort, before she was his wife.
1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements ii. xix. 261 With the Popes aduouch, who legitimated him.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus ii. 15 Straining their wittes to legitimate bastardly broods of opinions.
1663 S. Pepys Diary 9 Nov. (1971) IV. 376 It is much talked of, that the King entends to legitimate the Duke of Monmouth.
1681 W. Lawrence Right of Primogeniture Pref. sig. A4 Cohabitation for any time is so high a Presumption of Marriage, as it Legitimates the Son.
1701 D. Defoe Orig. Power People in Misc. (1703) 149 Another Parliament Legitimated Queen Elizabeth.
1760 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XXII. ii. 57 Pope Urban..legitimated the children of Donna Beatrix.
1818 H. Hallam View Europe Middle Ages II. viii. 280 One object of which was to legitimate the duke of Lancaster's ante-nuptial children.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. viii. 175 The children..were according to the law..legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents.
1901 F. W. Rolfe Chron. House Borgia 15 A bastard, legitimated and recognised by his father, was as valid and capable as the son of a lawful marriage.
1959 Daily Tel. 22 July 1/5 The House of Lords..decided that the child of an adulterous union could be legitimated by the subsequent marriage of its parents.
2009 B. A. West Encycl. Peoples Asia & Oceania I. 187/1 The family of the new husband must pay a bride price.., which..legitimates any children the couple may have.
3. transitive. To affirm or show to be legitimate; to authorize or justify by word or example; to serve as justification for.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > justify or sanction
warrant1578
privilege1594
warrantise1600
legitimate1611
sanctify1701
sanction1876
legitimize1892
1611 W. Sclater Key to Key of Script. 185 An hypocrite..countenanceth, yea legittimateth, wilfull rebellion against the law of God.
1651 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Dying iii. §8. 141 Our B. Lord was pleased to legitimate fear to us, by his agony and prayers in the garden.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xxvii. 466 The Gospel legitimates no hopes of salvation, but such as are accompanied with serious endeavours of mortification.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 304 Necessity legitimates my Advice; for it is the only Way to save our Lives.
a1763 W. Shenstone Oeconomy i, in Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 291 Unless œconomy's consent Legitimate expence.
1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ i. 63 The approbation of the men legitimates the Government.
1824 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. II. xiv. 268 National safety legitimates every mean employed upon it.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles Prelim. Ess. 4 He warns him that Pharaoh will require him to legitimate his mission.
1910 B. H. Bode Outl. Logic xv. 244 Tennyson argues that without the belief in immortality, ‘earth is darkness at the core,’ and he seems to imply that this fact legitimates the belief.
1974 J. I. M. Stewart Gaudy (1976) xi. 221 My companion had up his sleeve something that would legitimate his employing my Christian name at a second meeting.
2003 Kitchen Sink Winter 48/2 Finally legitimated as dialects, Ebonics and Spanglish have gained currency in popular culture.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.a1460
v.1494