Etymology of the English word legitimate
the English word
legitimatederived from the Medieval Latin word
legitimatusderived from the Medieval Latin word
legitimare (legitimize)
derived from the Latin word
legitimus (lawful, right; legitimate)
derived from the Latin word
lex (law; motion, bill; word)
derived from the Proto-Indo-European root
*leg- (to collect, to speak)
Date
The earliest known usage of legitimate in English dates from the 15th century.
Derivations in English
illegitimate,
legitimacy,
legitimatize,
legitimated,
legitimatingCognates
Catalan
llegitim, Dutch
legitiem, French
légitime, German
legitim, Italian
legittimo, Latin
legitimus, Norwegian
legitim, Provençal
legitima, Spanish
legitima, Swedish
legitimUsage
Word found in Modern English
