What does legitimatize mean?
Legitimize means to make something legal, valid, officially recognized, or broadly accepted as proper. The word is especially common in political, legal, historical, and institutional contexts, where it can describe the formal recognition of a government, regime, practice, treaty, or claim. It also has a broader social meaning: to legitimize an idea or practice is to make it appear justified and worthy of acceptance, whether or not an official body has approved it. For example, a court decision may legitimize a previously disputed procedure, while an election or constitutional reform may legitimize a governing authority. The verb is related to the adjective legitimate and the noun legitimacy, and it is often used with words such as government, regime, process, claim, and practice. Its connotation can be neutral when it refers to formal validation, but it may also suggest an attempt to give disputed power or conduct a respectable appearance.
verbTo make something legal, valid, or acceptable by giving it official recognition or legitimacy. It can also mean to cause something to be regarded as justified or proper.
- To make something legal, valid, or officially recognized.
- To make something seem justified, proper, or acceptable, especially in a social, political, or ideological context.
"The new procedure helped legitimize the practice by bringing it under formal regulation."
"The court ruling legitimized the practice in much of the country."
"Historians continue to debate whether the treaty helped legitimize the new government."
To legitimize something is to give it a legal or moral passport—changing not necessarily what it is, but whether the world will recognize it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does legitimatize come from?
Legitimize was formed in the 19th century from legitim-, a stem associated with legitimacy and legitimate, plus the suffix -ize, meaning “to make” or “to treat as.” These forms ultimately derive from the Latin legitimus, meaning lawful or according to law, which is related to lex, meaning law. The word spread across English in legal, political, and social contexts as a way of describing the conferral or recognition of lawful or accepted status.
Related word forms
How legitimatize is actually used
Common in formal and political contexts. It can describe both a legal or institutional process and the broader act of making a practice, claim, or authority seem acceptable.
Easily confused with legitimatize
Legitimate is an adjective describing something that is lawful, valid, or justified, whereas legitimize is a verb describing the act of making something legitimate.
Legitimacy is the quality or state of being accepted as lawful or justified, whereas legitimize is the action of giving something that status.