legitimate
adjective
• conforming to the law or to rules.
• "his claims to legitimate authority"
Similar:
legal,
lawful,
licit,
legalized,
authorized,
permitted,
permissible,
allowable,
allowed,
admissible,
recognized,
sanctioned,
approved,
licensed,
statutory,
constitutional,
within the law,
going by the rules,
above board,
valid,
honest,
upright,
legit,
by the book,
• able to be defended with logic or justification; valid.
• "a legitimate excuse for being late"
Similar:
valid,
sound,
admissible,
acceptable,
well founded,
justifiable,
reasonable,
sensible,
tenable,
defensible,
supportable,
just,
warrantable,
fair,
bona fide,
proper,
genuine,
plausible,
credible,
believable,
reliable,
understandable,
logical,
rational,
• constituting or relating to serious drama as distinct from musical comedy, revue, etc.
• "the legitimate theatre"
legitimate
verb
• make lawful or justify.
• "the regime was not legitimated by popular support"
Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘born of parents lawfully married to each other’): from medieval Latin legitimatus ‘made legal’, from the verb legitimare, from Latin legitimus ‘lawful’, from lex, leg- ‘law’.
