legitimacy
English · Thesaurus
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legitimacy
- /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪməsi/ UK
- /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪməsi/ Australia, Canada, US
- [ləˈd͡ʒɪɾɪməsi] Australia, Canada, US
Where it comes from
From legitim(ate) + -acy.
noun legitimacies
- The quality or state of being legitimate or valid; validity. The legitimacy based on a revolutionary essence was replaced by legitimacy with an ultranational, ultra-Yugoslav character.
- Public acceptance of an institution, such as a government, corporation, or system. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. warned that if the court failed to stop the president, its own “institutional legitimacy” would be threatened.
- Lawfulness of birth or origin; directness of descent as affecting the royal succession.
Similar: legitimateness, allowability, allowableness, liceity, legitimacy, legitness, permissibility, permissibleness, validity, validness · Opposite: illegitimacy, illegitimateness, invalidity, invalidness, nonlegitimacy, nonvalidity, unvalidity
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: authenticity, genuineness, legitimation, legitimization, legitimate, lawful, lawfully, legality, lawfulness, validity, eligibility, justification, justifiability, authority, credibility, justified
noun
Similar: legitimateness, allowability, allowableness, liceity, legitimacy, legitness, permissibility, permissibleness, validity, validness · Opposite: illegitimacy, illegitimateness, invalidity, invalidness, nonlegitimacy, nonvalidity, unvalidity
Translations
Every language
noun quality of being legitimate or valid; validity
| Español | legitimidad |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 正統 seitō |
| 中文 | 合法 héfǎ |
| Português | legitimidade, validade, validez |
| Français | légitimité |
| Deutsch | Rechtmäßigkeit, Legitimität |
| Italiano | legittimità |
| Română | legitimitate |
| Русский | зако́нность zakónnostʹ, закономе́рность zakonomérnostʹ, легити́мность legitímnostʹ |
| العربية | شَرْعِيَّة šarʕiyya |
Talk about this word "legitimacy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/legitimacy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. legitimacy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/legitimacy "legitimacy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/legitimacy.Cite this
@misc{legitimacy_2026,
title = {legitimacy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/legitimacy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
