Legitimacy

n.

1.

The state, or quality, of being legitimate, or in conformity with law; hence, the condition of having been lawfully begotten, or born in wedlock. The doctrine of Divine Right, which has now come back to us, like a thief from transportation, under the alias of Legitimacy. - Macaulay.

Noun	1.	legitimacy - lawfulness by virtue of being authorized or in accordance with law Antonyms: illegitimacy - unlawfulness by virtue of not being authorized by or in accordance with law
	2.	legitimacy - undisputed credibility Synonyms: authenticity, genuineness

LEGITIMACY. The state of being born in wedlock; that is, in a lawful manner.
     2. Marriage is considered by all civilized nations as the only source of legitimacy; the qualities of husband and wife must be possessed by the parents in order to make the offspring legitimate; and furthermore the marriage must be lawful, for if it is void ab initio, the children who may be the offspring of such marriage are not legitimate. 1 Phil. Ev. Index, h.t.; Civ. Code L. art. 203 to 216.
     3. In Virginia, it is provided by statute of 1787, "that the issue of marriages deemed null in law, shall nevertheless be legitimate." 3 Hen. & Munf. 228, n.
     4. A conclusive, presumption of legitimacy arises from marriage and cohabitation; and proof of the mother's irregularities will not destroy this presumption: pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant. To rebut this presumption, circumstances must be shown which render it impossible that the husband should be the father, as impotency and the like. 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 300-2. Vide Bastard; Bastardy; Paternity; Pregnancy.

absolute power, absolute realism, absolutism, actionability, admissibility, admissibleness, allowableness, applicability, artlessness, authenticity, authority, bona fideness, competence, competency, constituted authority, constitutional validity, constitutionalism, constitutionality, defensibility, delegated authority, divine right, due process, excusability, explainability, explicability, faculty, forgivableness, genuineness, honesty, inartificiality, indirect authority, inherent authority, jurisdiction, jus divinum, justice, justiciability, justifiability, justifiableness, lawful authority, lawfulness, legal authority, legal form, legal process, legalism, legality, legitimateness, licitness, lifelikeness, literalism, literality, literalness, naturalism, naturalness, pardonableness, permissibility, permissibleness, photographic realism, power, prerogative, realism, realness, reasonability, reasonableness, regality, remissibility, right, rightful authority, rightfulness, royal prerogative, sanctionableness, scope, sincerity, the say, the say-so, true-to-lifeness, truth to nature, unadulteration, unaffectedness, unfictitiousness, unspeciousness, unspuriousness, unsyntheticness, validity, veniality, verisimilitude, vested authority, vicarious authority, vindicability, warrantableness