Legitiimejä

Legitiimejä is the plural partitive form of the Finnish adjective legitiimi, meaning legitimate or justified. It is used to describe actions, means, institutions or claims that are considered acceptable under social norms, ethical principles, or legal frameworks. The term is a loanword from Latin legitiimus and is commonly used in discussions of politics, law, and ethics. The related noun form is legitimiteetti, meaning legitimacy.

Usage and nuance: Legitiimi describes something that is socially or morally accepted as proper, not only legally permissible. It often contrasts with laillinen, which emphasizes legality under the letter of the law, while legitiimi emphasizes broader acceptance or justification. Something can be laillinen but not legitiimi, or legitiimi but not fully laillinen, depending on context and perspective. In politics and organizational life, legitiimejä keinoja or legitiimejä tavoitteita refer to means or goals that are broadly considered appropriate or defensible.

Common contexts and collocations: legitiimet päätökset (legitimate decisions), legitiimi hallinto (legitimate governance—though nuances vary by context), legitiimi toiminta (legitimate activity), and legitiimejä perusteita (legitimate grounds). Discussing legitimacy often involves factors such as consent, accountability, transparency, and societal recognition, rather than purely formal legality.

Relation to legitimacy: Legitimiteetti is the noun form used to discuss the broader concept of legitimacy—how and why authorities, institutions, or actions are perceived as rightful by people or communities. The term appears across political science, sociology, and ethics.

Morphology note: legitiimejä signals plural partitive; the singular nominative is legitiimi, and the plural nominative is legitiimit.