legislative 
legislature; relating to or consisting of a body 
of legislators : as, a lr//i.tlnln'i- commit toe; a 
lii/is/d/irc vole; a h-iii-.inln < -recess. Legislative 
Assembly. See aiuemMy. - Legislative power, the 
power to muke or alter litws. See judicial power (under 
judicial), and executive, 1. 
II. >i. A pel-sou, .-is a prince or dictator, or 
a body of persons, as a parliamentary assem- 
bly, invested with authority to make or alter 
laws. Compare cxeciilin . 
The power of the leyulatiae, being derived from the peo- 
ple by a positive voluntary grant and Institution, can be 
no other than what that positive grant conveyed, which 
being only to make laws and not to make legislators, the 
legislative can have no power to transfer their authority 
of iimkinii laws, and place it in other hands. 
Locke, Civil Government, xi. 
legislatively (lej' is -la- tiv-li), adv. By legis- 
lative action; by means of legislation. 
legislator (lej'is-la-tor), . [= F. legislateur 
= Sp. Pg. Icgislnilor = It. legislature, < L. legis 
lutnr (also legum lator), a lawgiver: legis, gen., 
Inimn, gen. pi., of lux, law (gee legal); lator, a 
bearer, proposer of a law, < latun, used as pp. 
of ferre = E. fteoi-l. Cf. legislation.] A law- 
giver; an individual who gives or makes laws; 
also, a member of a legislature or parliament, 
or other lawmaking body. 
legislatorial (lej'is-la-to'ri-al), a. [< legislator 
T -ial.] 1. Pertaining or relating to legislation 
or legislators: as, legislatorial power or dicta- 
tion. 2. Having the power of a legislator; 
acting as a legislator or legislature. 
Solon, the legittatorial founder of Athens. 
De ',"" "<r</, Homer, it 
One may Imagine a community governed by a depen- 
dent legislatonal body. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 357. 
legislatorship (lej'is-la-tor-ship), . [< legis- 
lalur + -sAi'/>.] The office of legislator. 
legislatress (lej'is-la-tres), n. [< legislator + 
-ess.] A woman who makes laws; a female 
legislator. Shaftesbury, Morals, iv. j 2. 
legislatrix (lej-is-la'triks), n. [= P. Ugisla- 
trice, < L. as if "legis latrix, fern, of legis lator, 
legislator: see legislator.] Same as legislatress. 
legislature (lej'ls-la-tur), n. [= F. legislature 
= Sp. Pg. It. Icyislatura, legislature, < L. legis, 
gen. of lex, law, + (LL.) latura, a bearing, car- 
rying. < latus, pp. of ferre = E. bear 1 : see legis- 
lator.] 1. A body of lawmakers; an assem- 
blage of men invested with the power of mak- 
ing, repealing, or changing the laws of a coun- 
try or state, and of raising and appropriating 
its revenues. A legislature generally consists of two 
houses or separate bodies acting concurrently, and usually 
requires the assent of the supreme executive authority for 
the validation of its acts, the refusal of which, however, 
may in the United States be overcome by a prescribed 
majority of votes. (Seewto.) Legislatures have different 
specific names, as the Congress of the United States and 
the Legislatures of most of the separate States (the former 
consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, and 
the two houses of the latter being generally also termed 
Senate and House of Representatives or Assembly), the 
Parliament of Qreat Britain (divided into the House of 
Lords and the House of Commons), the Reichstag of Ger- 
many, the Cortes of .Spain, etc. See housed, n., 6. 
In the legislature, the people are a check on the nobility, 
and the nobility a check upon the people. 
Blackstone, Com., I. ii. 
Twas April, as the bumpkins say ; 
The legislature call'd it May. Camper, A Fable. 
2. Any body of persons authorized to make 
laws or rules for the community represented by 
them: as, the General Assembly is the legisla- 
ture of the Presbyterian Church, 
legist (le'jist), n. [< OF. legiste, F. Ugiste = Sp. 
Pg. It. legista, < ML. leginta, one skilled in law, 
<L. lex (leg-), law: see legal. Cf. legister.] One 
skilled in the laws. 
Though there should be emulation between them, yet 
as legists they will agree in magnifying that wherein they 
are best. Bacon, Letters, cxxvii., To the King. 
Ye learned legists of contentious law. 
Ford, Fame's Memorial. 
legistert, . [ME., also legis tre, legester, < OF. 
legistre, equiv. to legiste, legist : see legist.] A 
legist. 
Bisshopes yblessed sif the! ben as the! shulden, 
I-egutres of bothe the lawes, the lew ed there- with to preche. 
Piers Plowman (B), vll. 14. 
legitim, . Sec luntimf. 
legitimacy (le-jit''i-ma-si), ii. [<.legitiniii(te) + 
-<V/.] 1. The state of being legitimate; con- 
formity to law, rule, or principle; natural or 
logical result; regularity; propriety; correct- 
ness: as, the legitimacy of a government, of au 
argument, or of a conclusion. 
During his first ten years of duty Beust served in Berlin 
and Paris; the first, the stronghold of leijitiinarn . more con- 
servative than Vit'nim itself: the second, the center of 
fashion and culture, where the salon had not yet liecoiii.- 
extinct. (Juarterlij Itte., CXLV. 330. 
3403 
Specifically 2. Lawfulness of birth: 
to Imstardy. 3. Directness or regularity of de- 
scent, as affecting the right of succession. See 
Ill/illllllfit, -. 
legitimate (16-jit'i-mat), r. t. ; pret. and pp. fe- 
!/itiiiiatcd, ppr. Ici/itiniiitiiig. [<ML. legitiiniitiiK. 
pp. of Iri/itiiiiiii-i' (> It. Icgilimare = Pg. Sp. le- 
gitimar = F. legitimer), make lawful, < L. Inji- 
1 1 >it ii.i, lawful: see legitime.] 1. To make law- 
ful; establish the legitimacy or propriety of. 
Our blessed Lord was pleased to legitimate text to us by 
his agony and prayers in the garden. 
Jar. Taylor, Holy Dying, 111. 8. 
To enact a statute of that which he dares not seem to 
approve, even to legitimate vice. Milton, Divorce, 11. 2. 
The general voice has legitimated this objection. 
Jefferson, Correspondence, II. 460. 
2. To render legitimate, as a bastard ; invest 
with the rights of a legitimate child or lawful 
heir, as one born out of wedlock. Under the civil 
and canon laws operative in many European countries a 
bastard is legitimated by the subsequent marriage of the 
parents; but this is not the case under the laws of England 
and most of the United States. 
At this Time, In a Parliament, the Duke of Lancaster 
caused to be legitimated the Issue he had by Katherine 
Swlnford before he married her. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 147. 
legitimate (le-jit'i-mat), a. [< ML. legitimatus, 
pp. of legitimare, make lawful: see the verb.] 
1. According to law, rule, or precedent; agree- 
able to established principles or standards; in 
conformity with custom or usage; lawful; reg- 
ular; orderly; proper: as, a legitimate king or 
government; the legitimate drama; a legitimate 
subject of debate ; legitimate trade. 
There are certain themes . . . which are too entirely 
horrible for legitimate fiction. Pot, Tales, I. 825. 
Among the topics of literary speculation, there is none 
more legitimate or more interesting than to consider who, 
among the writers of a given age, are elected to live. 
Gladstone, Might of Right, p. 123. 
Specifically 2. Of lawful birth ; born in wed- 
lock, or of parents legally married: as, legiti- 
mate children ; a legitimate heir. 
Sirrah, your brother is legitimate ; 
Vour father's wife did after wedlock bear him. 
slink., K. John, 1. 1. 116. 
A legitimate child is one born of wedlock ; or, more par- 
ticularly, one between whose parents the relation of mar- 
riage subsisted either at the time when he was begotten, 
or at the time when he was born, or at some Intervening 
period. Stephen, 2 Com., 283. 
3. Justly based on the premises ; logically cor- 
rect, allowable, or valid : as, a legitimate result ; 
legitimate arguments or conclusion. 
I will prove it (an assertion] legitimate, sir, upon the 
oaths of judgement and reason. 
Shale., Twelfth Night, Hi. 2. 16. 
A series of legitimate syllogisms, exhibiting separately 
and distinctly. In a light as clear and strong as language 
can afford, each successive link of the demonstration. 
Ii. Stewart, Unman Mind, II. 111. 1. 
It is just as legitimate an inference that there are bodies 
in stellar space not luminous as that there are luminous 
bodies In space not visible. 
./. Croll, Climate and Cosmology, p. 310. 
Legitimate drama, a designation used at different peri- 
ods with a varying specific reference, being sometimes 
applied to the representation of Shakspere's plays and at 
other times otherwise restricted, but generally employed 
loosely to indicate approval of some (usually not distant) 
former time. Legitimate prejudice, an Innate or a 
priori presumption and anticipation of nature. =8yn. Le- 
gal, Licit, etc. See liiicful. 
legitimately (le-jit'i-mat-li), adv. In a legiti- 
mate manner; lawfully; according to law; gen- 
uinely ; not falsely. 
legitiinateness (le-jit'i-mat-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being legitimate ; legality ; law- 
fulness; genuineness. 
Asserting the legitiinateness of his ordination. 
Barrow, Pope's Supremacy. 
legitimation (le-jit-i-ma'shon), n. [= F. legiti- 
mation = 8p. legithiiacion = Pg. legitima$8o = 
It. legittimazione, legittimagione, < ML. as if *le- 
gitimatio(n-), < legitimare, legitimate: see legiti- 
mate, v.] 1. The act of making legal, or of giv- 
ing a thing the recognition of law. 
The coinage or legitimation of money. Eatt. 
2. The act of rendering legitimate; specifically, 
the investing of an illegitimate child, or one 
supposed to be the issue of an illegal marriage, 
with the rights of one born in lawful 'wed- 
lock. 
This doubt was kept long open, in respect of the two 
queens that succeeded. Mary and Elizabeth, whose lefriti- 
mationn were incompatible one with another, though their 
succession was settled by act of parliament. 
Baton, liist Hen. VII. (ed. BohnX p. 452. 
I have disclaim'd sir Robert and my land ; 
J.f<tiliiii<tt\"it n.ime. and all is gone ; 
Ihc'n, good my mother, let me know my father. 
Shale., K. John, i. 1. L>4s. 
leg-muff 
3. In Germany, etc., proof of identity and of 
legal permission t" rcMilc in a certain place, 
engage in a certain occupation, etc. Letters of 
legitimation, in Scot* laic, letters from the sovereign 
empowering a bastard who has no lawful children to dls- 
poteof his heritage or movables at any time during hlilife, 
and to make a testament These privileges, however, he 
can now enjoy without letters of legitimation. 
legitimatist (le-jit'i-ma-tist), . [< Uijitimate, 
a., + -i#t.] Same as legitimist. 
legitimatize 'le-jit'i-ma-tiz),. (.; pret. and pp. 
/<-i/iliniitti:t, ppr. l'!iittmati:ing. [< li-ijitimate 
+ -ize.] To legitimate. [Rare.] 
A Oovernor-Oeneral of the Soudan ... who legilimatiza 
the slave-trade by a decree. The Century, XXVIII. Ml. 
legitime (lej'i-tim), n. [< F. legitime = Sp. le- 
iii ti inn = Pg. legitimo = It. legtttimo f < L. lii/iti- 
mus, according to law, legal, legitimate, < lex 
(leg-), law: see If gal.] In civil late, the part 
of the free movable property of a testator 
which he cannot bequeath away from his chil- 
dren, or deprive them of inheriting by making 
gifts while living. The one fourth which was thus 
secured to the children by the Roman law was termed the 
Vil' iili:m portion, the law being named after the tribune 
Falcidius, who proposed it. This principle has been adopt- 
ed In varying extent in some of the principal countries of 
Europe,includfng Scotland, and also In Louisiana. In Scots 
law the legitime (commonly spelled l(<jitim\ also called 
bairns' part of gear (the part which the testator may freely 
dispose of being termed the dead's part), amounts to one 
third where the father has left a widow, and one half where 
there is no widow. It cannot be diminished or affected 
by any testamentary or other deed. 
legitimisation, legitimise. See legitimieation, 
li'i/itiutize. 
legitimism (le-jit'i-mizm), n. [< F. Ugitimisnie, 
< L. legitimus, legitimate : see legitime and -mm.} 
Maintenance of or insistence upon legitimacy 
in any relation ; specifically, the principles of 
the Legitimists. 
The theory of sovereignty and government called le<riti- 
mitm, which Is still a factor In French and Spanish poll- 
tics, is ultimately based on the assumption of a sort of 
sacred and indefeasible law regulating succession to the 
Crown, and placing it beyond competition and above popu- 
lar sanction. Maine, Early Law and Custom, p. 143. 
legitimist (le-jit'i-mist), n. [< F. Ifyilimiste = 
Sp. legitimist, < L. legitimus, legitimate: see 
/'/////;/ and -i'.^. ] 1. One who maintains or ad- 
vocates legitimacy of any kind ; especially, a 
supporter of legitimate authority; one who be- 
lieves in the sacredness of hereditary monarchi- 
cal government ; a favorer of the doctrine of 
divine right. Specifically 2. [</.] () In 
France, a supporter of the claim to the throne 
of the elder branch of the Bourbons, descen- 
dants of Louis XIV., in opposition to that of 
the Orleans family, descendants of the Duke 
of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. Charles X., 
the representative of the elder line, was deposed In 1830, 
and replaced by Louis Philippe, of the younger line. The 
succession fell into abeyance after the deposition of the 
latter In 1848, and the dispute was terminated in lt*83 by 
the death of the childless Comte de Chambord (who was 
actually invested with the crown at the age of ten by the 
abdication of his grandfather, Charles X., and of the dau- 
phin, the Due d'Angouleme. and was called by his ad- 
herents Henry V.), leaving the Comte de Paris, grandson 
of Louis Philippe, sole heir to the royal claims of the whole 
Bourbon family, (ft) I n Spain, same as t'ar/if,2. 
legitimization (le-iit'i-mi-za'shon), n. [< le- 
gitimize + -ation.] Legitimation. Also spelled 
leyitimisation. 
The conltitit of laws on the subject of leuitimuatitm by 
subsequent marriage yields some curious result*. 
Encyc. Brit., III. 427. 
legitimize (le-jit'i-miz), . t.; pret. and pp. 
legitimised, ppr. legitimizing. [< L. legitimux, 
legitimate (see legitimate), + -ise.] To legiti- 
mate. Also spelled legitimise. 
legless (leg'les), a. [< leg + -less.] Having no 
legs. 
leglet(leg'let),. [< leg + -let.] An ornament 
for the leg, of the same nature as the anklet. 
Her [the Begum of Oude's] dress WAS an Immense pair 
of trousers of striped Indian silk, a Cashmere shawl . . . 
over a close covering of blue and yellow silk, two pairs of 
remarkable slippers, numbers of anklets and leglett, a great 
deal of jewelry, and a large bine cloak over all. 
Caroline Fox, Journal, p. 11. 
leglin (leg'lin), ii. [Appar. for "legling, dim. of 
legel, < Feel, legill = Sw. lagel = OHO. lagtia, 
lagella, MHG. la'gele, la-gel, lagel, G. legel, Uiijil. 
a small cask, < L. lagena, a flagon : see lagena.] 
A wooden milk-pail. [Scotch.] 
The lasses are lonely, dowle. and wae ; . . . 
Ilk ane lifts her leglin, and hies her away. 
Jane Elliot, Flowers of the Forest. 
leg-lock (leg'lok), n. A lock or fetter for the 
leg. 
leg-muff (leg'muf), n. One of the fleecy or 
downy puffs or tufts about the feet of many 
