legitimate: Meaning and Definition of

le•git•i•mate

1. according to law; lawful: the property's legitimate owner.
2. in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards.
3. born in wedlock or of legally married parents: legitimate children.
4. in accordance with the laws of reasoning; logically inferable; logical: a legitimate conclusion.
5. resting on or ruling by the principle of hereditary right: a legitimate sovereign.
6. not spurious or unjustified; genuine: It was a legitimate complaint.
7. of the normal or regular type or kind.
8. of or pertaining to professionally produced stage plays, as distinguished from burlesque, vaudeville, television, motion pictures, etc.: an actor in the legitimate theater.

1. to make lawful or legal; pronounce or state as lawful: Parliament legitimated his accession to the throne.
2. to establish as lawfully born: His bastard children were afterward legitimated by law.
3. to show or declare to be legitimate or proper: He was under obligation to legitimate his commission.
4. to justify; sanction or authorize: His behavior was legitimated by custom.

1. the legitimate theater or drama.
2. a person who is established as being legitimate.