illegitimate

illegitimate

(ĭl′ĭ-jĭt′ə-mĭt)

adj.

1.

a. Being against established or accepted rules and standards: an illegitimate means of winning a debate.

b. Being against the law; illegal: an illegitimate contract.

c. Not valid or defensible: Their reasons for missing school are illegitimate.

d. Incorrectly deduced; illogical: an illegitimate conclusion.

e. Biology Unacceptable as a scientific name because of not conforming to the international rules of nomenclature.

2. Offensive Born to parents not married to each other.

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il′le·git′i·mate·ly adv.

illegitimate

[il′ejit′imit]

Etymology: L, in, not, lex, law

1 not authorized by law.

3 abnormal.

il·le·git·i·mate

(il'lĕ-jit'i-măt)

An older, and now strongly pejorative, descriptive term for a child born to an unmarried woman.

[L. in-, not + legimatus, lawful]