‖n. [ L., he has chosen, fr. eligere to choose. See Elect. ] (Law) A judicial writ of execution, by which a defendant's goods are appraised and delivered to the plaintiff, and, if not sufficient to satisfy the debt, all of his lands are delivered, to be held till the debt is paid by the rents and profits, or until the defendant's interest has expired. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being illegitimate. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Not according to law; not regular or authorized; unlawful; improper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unlawfully begotten; born out of wedlock; bastard; as, an illegitimate child. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not legitimately deduced or inferred; illogical; as, an illegitimate inference. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not authorized by good usage; not genuine; spurious; as, an illegitimate word. [ 1913 Webster ]

Illegitimate fertilization, or
Illegitimate union (Bot.), the fertilization of pistils by stamens not of their own length, in heterogonously dimorphic and trimorphic flowers. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Illegitimated p. pr. & vb. n. Illegitimating. ] To render illegitimate; to declare or prove to be born out of wedlock; to bastardize; to illegitimatize. [ 1913 Webster ]

The marriage should only be dissolved for the future, without illegitimating the issue. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a illegitimate manner; unlawfully. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of illegitimating; bastardizing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being illegitimate; illegitimacy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Gardiner had performed his promise to the queen of getting her illegitimation taken off. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To render illegitimate; to bastardize. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Legitimate, a. ] (Scots Law) The portion of movable estate to which the children are entitled upon the death of the father. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Legitimate, a. ] The state, or quality, of being legitimate, or in conformity with law; hence, the condition of having been lawfully begotten, or born in wedlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

The doctrine of Divine Right, which has now come back to us, like a thief from transportation, under the alias of Legitimacy. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

n. [ Cf. F. légitimation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of making legitimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The coining or legitimation of money. East. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lawful birth. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Legitimist. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To legitimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The principles or plans of legitimists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. légitimiste. ] 1. One who supports legitimate authority; esp., one who believes in hereditary monarchy, as a divine right. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically, a supporter of the claims of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty to the crown of France. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Legitimized p. pr. & vb. n. Legitimizing. ] To legitimate. [ 1913 Webster ]