legitimacy
/ləˈd͡ʒɪtɪməsi/ noun C1- The quality or state of being legitimate or valid; validity.
- Public acceptance of an institution, such as a government, corporation, or system. · After decades of inequality and oppression, the regime had lost legitimacy with its own population.· The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 was seen by many as proof of capitalism’s legitimacy over communism.
- Lawfulness of birth or origin; directness of descent as affecting the royal succession.
Plural legitimacies
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“Certainly they were; supposing there were to be doubts raised as to the validity of your marriage or the legitimacy of your child?”
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