legitimize

English

Alternative forms

• legitimise

Etymology

From legitimate +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

(verb)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪmaɪz/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪˌmaɪz/, [ləˈd͡ʒɪɾɪˌmaɪz], /ləˈd͡ʒɪtəˌmaɪz/, [ləˈd͡ʒɪɾəˌmaɪz]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪmɑɪz/, [ləˈd͡ʒɪɾɪˌmɑɪz]

Verb

legitimize (third-person singular simple present legitimizes, present participle legitimizing, simple past and past participle legitimized)

1. (transitive) To make legitimate.

Usage notes

• Forms of legitimize are about twice as common as forms of the verb legitimate in the US.
• Forms of legitimate are somewhat more common than the forms of the verbs legitimize and legitimise in the UK combined.

Synonyms

• legitimate (verb)

Derived terms

• delegitimize
• illegitimatize
• illegitimize

Translations

to make legitimate

• Belarusian: легітымізава́ць impf or pf (ljehitymizavácʹ), легітымі́раваць impf or pf (ljehitymíravacʹ), узако́ньваць impf (uzakónʹvacʹ), узако́ніць pf (uzakónicʹ)
• Bulgarian: узаконявам (bg) impf (uzakonjavam), узаконя́ pf (uzakonjá)
• Catalan: legitimar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使合法 (zh) (shǐ héfǎ), 合法化 (zh) (héfǎhuà)

• Dutch: legitimeren (nl)
• Finnish: legitimoida (fi)
• French: légitimiser (fr)
• German: legitimieren (de)
• Italian: legittimare (it)
• Japanese: 合法化する (ごうほうかする, gōhōka suru)
• Portuguese: legitimar (pt)
• Russian: легитими́ровать (ru) impf or pf (legitimírovatʹ), легитимизи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (legitimizírovatʹ), узако́нивать (ru) impf (uzakónivatʹ), узако́нить (ru) pf (uzakónitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: legitimirati (sh), opravdati (sh)
• Spanish: legitimar (es), legitimizar (es)
• Swedish: legitimera (sv)
• Turkish: meşrulaştırmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: легітимізува́ти impf or pf (lehitymizuváty), узако́нювати impf (uzakónjuvaty), узако́нити pf (uzakónyty)