legitim

Forms

legitim m or n (feminine singular legitimă, masculine plural legitimi, feminine/neuter plural legitime)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”) and French légitime; the dictionaries differ in the weight they give each.^[2][3][4] Tiktin and Scriban give only the Latin word, the DA and CADE take it after French, and Wiktionary gives the French word, from the Latin.^{[5][6][7][8][1]} The French adjective is itself borrowed from Latin.^[9][1]

The Latin word is formed on lēx (“law”) with the suffix -timus.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1755, with the sense “lawful”.^[5] In the 19th century the DLR quotes it from Heliade, Negulici and Barițiu, who speaks of a rege legitim “legitimate king”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense “founded on the law” came first, applied to rulers, heirs, marriages and children born in wedlock.^[4][5] From it grew the sense “justified, fair”, as in Maiorescu and Hasdeu.^[7] Legitimă apărare “self-defence” is a legal term found in Maiorescu.^[7][2] MDA2 also records a rare noun legitimă, the share of an inheritance due to an heir.^[3]

Timeline

• 1755 – legitim “lawful”, the first record.^[5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary, with Latin legitimus.^[11]
• 1870 – “fair, reasonable, founded on the law” in Costinescu.^[12]
• 1931 – legitimă apărare “self-defence” in CADE.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Founded on or justified by the law; lawful, legal: guvern legitim, and in legitimă apărare, self-defence against a direct and unjust attack, which the law does not punish.^[2][3]
2. Of a marriage: made with the legal formalities; of spouses: legally married; of children: born to married parents or recognised by the father; legitimate.^[2][3]
3. Justified, fair: o cerere legitimă “a fair request”; îndreptățit, echitabil.^[2][6]

Noun

1. (very rare) The part of an estate legally due to an heir.^[3]

Word family

• nelegitim
• legitimist

Related words

• legitima
• lege
• legal

Usage notes

The stress varies: DEX 2009 gives legítim and also legitím;^[2][6] Scriban thought the final stress a French habit.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 584
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1341
4. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. legitim
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. legitim
6. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 737
7. ^ a b c Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. legitim
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. legitim
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. légitime
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. lēgitimus
11. ^ Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. legitim
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 27