Where does “legitimate” come from?
Legitimate comes from Middle English legitimat, from Medieval Latin legitimatus, the past participle of Latin legitimo, derived from the adjective Latin legitimus meaning lawful, from Latin lex meaning law, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- meaning to gather or pick.
legitimate (English): In accordance with the law or established legal...
Definitions
- In accordance with the law or established legal...
Ancestry of “legitimate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | legitimat | — |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | legitimatus | legitimized |
| 3 | Latin | lēgitimō | to confirm by law |
| 4 | Latin | lēgitimus | lawful, legal, legitimate |
| 5 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |