illegitimate

Definition

Not conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards.

Etymology

First attested in 1536, from Latin illēgitimus, most likely an adapted borrowing of Middle French illegitime, equivalent to il- + legitimate, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3).

Example Sentences

• "[…] it may be impossible to convince them that the illegitimate power which they obtain, by degrading themselves, is a curse […]"
• "The so-called interstellar space […] has not the properties of ordinary space. It will not conduct sound, nor can a human being move through it. It is therefore illegitimate to measure it in miles."
• "Our attitude was that, to put it briefly, our presence there [in South Africa] was legal but illegitimate. We had an abstract right to be there, a birthright, but the basis of that right was fraudulent. Our presence was grounded in a crime, namely colonial conquest, perpetuated by apartheid."

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