Delegitimisations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of undermining or stripping away the recognized status of an entity or authority
2. The process of rendering something officially invalid or illegitimate in a political or social context
3. The removal of legitimacy from a person, organization, or process, often resulting in a loss of credibility or acceptance

Etymology: "Delegitimisations" is the plural of "delegitimisation", the noun for the act of removing legitimacy from something, such as a government, institution, or claim. The base word is "legitimise" (British spelling; "legitimize" in American usage), which came into English from medieval Latin "legitimare", meaning to make lawful, from Latin "legitimus", lawful, itself built on "lex", law. The prefix "de-" reverses the sense, so "delegitimise" means to strip away that lawful standing. The plural simply counts separate acts of delegitimising, so the word is used when a writer means several such removals, for example in different cases or by different actors. The suffix "-ation" turns the verb into a noun naming the process, and the plural "-s" then treats each instance as a countable event.

Synonyms: invalidations, disqualifications, denials

Antonyms: legitimations, validations, authorizations