a. [ LL. legitimatus, p. p. of legitimare to legitimate, fr. L. legitimus legitimate. See Legal. ] 1. Accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements; lawful; as, legitimate government; legitimate rights; the legitimate succession to the throne; a legitimate proceeding of an officer; a legitimate heir. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lawfully begotten; born in wedlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfe`t, or spurious; as, $legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Conforming to known principles, or accepted rules; as, legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard, or method; a legitimate combination of colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tillotson still keeps his place as a legitimate English classic. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a legitimate result; a legitimate inference. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Legitimated p. pr. & vb. n. Legitimating ] To make legitimate, lawful, or valid; esp., to put in the position or state of a legitimate person before the law, by legal means; as, to legitimate a bastard child. [ 1913 Webster ]

To enact a statute of that which he dares not seem to approve, even to legitimate vice. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a legitimate manner; lawfully; genuinely. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being legitimate; lawfulness; genuineness. [ 1913 Webster ]