legitimize
/ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪˌmaɪz/verb
legitimize is spelled L-E-G-I-T-I-M-I-Z-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, legitimize means “To make legitimate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in legitimize?
| Letters | 10: L-E-G-I-T-I-M-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 39,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is legitimize?
Legitimize appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce legitimize?
- UK /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪmaɪz/
- US /ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪˌmaɪz/
- US [ləˈd͡ʒɪɾɪˌmaɪz]
Legitimize has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-legitimize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of legitimize
- legitimizes present, singular, he/she/it
- legitimizing participle, present
- legitimized participle, past
- legitimise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does legitimize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make legitimate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Legitimize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make legitimate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | légitimiser |
| German | legitimieren |
| Portuguese | legitimar |
| Spanish | legitimar, legitimizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does legitimize come from?
From legitimate + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).