\Le*git"i*mate\ (-m[asl]t), 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.
2. Lawfully begotten; born in wedlock.
3. Authorized; real; genuine; not false, counterfeit, or
   spurious; as, legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate
   inscriptions.
4. Conforming to known principles, or accepted rules; as,
   legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard, or method; a
   legitimate combination of colors.
         Tillotson still keeps his place as a legitimate
         English classic.                      --Macaulay.
5. Following by logical sequence; reasonable; as, a
   legitimate result; a legitimate inference.

\Le*git"i*mate\ (-m[=a]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Legitimated} (-m[=a]`t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Legitimating}
(-m[=a]`t[i^]ng).]
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.
      To enact a statute of that which he dares not seem to
      approve, even to legitimate vice.        --Milton.