legitimate

/ləˈdʒɪtəmət/luh-JIH-tuh-muht

/ləˈdʒɪtəmət/luh-JIH-tuh-muht

Meaningmade according to law

Common meaning: lawful

Other meanings: genuine

legita lawSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 328 · scan
imadjective ending
ateverb or adjective ending: to make, having

Journey through time

Latinlegitimus‘lawful’source
Medieval Latinlegitimatus‘made lawful’source
Englishlegitimate‘lawful’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin lēx ‘a law’.

Roots

lēx, lēgis Latin “a law”

Related words

legacy legislator privilege

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