Legitimating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of making something lawful, justified, or officially recognized
2. Causing a concept, action, or status to be accepted as valid or proper
3. The process of establishing the legality or appropriateness of an idea or behavior

Etymology: "Legitimating" is the present participle of "legitimate," which comes from the Latin "legitimare," meaning "to make lawful," built from "legitimus" ("lawful," from "lex," "law"). The Latin word was formed to describe making a person or thing conform to the law, and it passed into English in the 1400s, initially with the sense of declaring a child born in wedlock and therefore lawfully recognized as heir. The adjective "legitimate" was in use in English before the verb, and the verb "legitimate" appeared in the 1600s, applied both to lawful birth and to giving official sanction to something. The participle ending "-ing" turns the verb into an action noun or adjective, so "legitimating" names the ongoing process of making something lawful or acceptable.

Synonyms: validating, authorizing, sanctioning, certifying, confirming

Antonyms: invalidating, disapproving, rejecting, forbidding, prohibiting