legitimate
/lɪˈd͡ʒɪt.ɪ.mət/
"legitimate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“legitimate” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,959. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,959
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements.
Corpus desk
Index EN-legitimate · legitimate · English
legitimate · rank #4,959 · 14 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,959
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 14 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH leaf
Nearest frequency peer: leaf (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “legitimate”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- integrity
integrity
95,045 corpus weight
- interpretat…
interpretation
95,044 corpus weight
- leaf
leaf
95,043 corpus weight
- legitimate
legitimate
95,042 corpus weight
- lightning
lightning
95,041 corpus weight
- loads
loads
95,040 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “legitimate” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | legitimate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /lɪˈd͡ʒɪt.ɪ.mət/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #4,959 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “legitimate” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 14 spelling variants around legitimate (IPA /lɪˈd͡ʒɪt.ɪ.mət/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,959 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for legitimate, with forms such as "elgitimate", "leggitimate", and "legiitmate". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "legitimize", "legitimately", "legitimacy", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English legitimat, legytymat, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, perfect passive participle of Latin lēgitimō (“to make legal”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law,… The correct English form is legitimate, spelled L-E-G-I-T-I-M-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements.
- 2Conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards; valid.
- 3Authentic, real, genuine.
- 4Marital.
- 5Marital.
- 6Relating to hereditary rights.
- 7Belonging or relating to the legitimate theater.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how legitimate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Rodwell was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson - who has shown 15 red cards since the start of last season - after 23 minutes for what appeared to be a legitimate challenge on Suarez.
According to the tweet, the encounter began with "a traffic stop for unlawful speed." If so, then the initial stop was legitimate, but in and of itself that wouldn't be probable cause to search the car. It does give an officer the right to look inside, and if contraband is in plain view, that would be probable cause. Here we don't know whether the bag ful…
Etymology
From Middle English legitimat, legytymat, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, perfect passive participle of Latin lēgitimō (“to make legal”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law," from Latin lēx (“law”). Originally "lawfully begotten". The noun was derived from the adjective within English or earlier by substantivization (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), the verb from the adjective by conversion (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- elgitimate
- leggitimate
- legiitmate
- legitiamte
- legitimaet
- legitimatte
- legitimmate
- legitimtae
- legitmiate
- legittimate
- legtiimate
- leigtimate
- lgeitimate
- llegitimate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of legitimate - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "legitimate", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "legitimate". Here's where to go from here.
- "legitimate" maps to 3 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "legitimize". View pair
- 14 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #4,959 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.