legitimierte

Legitimierte is the simple past tense form of the German verb legitimieren, meaning to make something legitimate or to confer legal or formal recognition on a person, document, institution, or action. It can also appear as a participial adjective form in contexts where something is described as authorized or legitimized, though the participle form legitimiert is more commonly used in the perfect tense.

Etymology and meaning: Legitimieren derives from the Latin legitimus “lawful,” passed into German via Old French légitimer. The core sense is to grant validity, authority, or acceptance by a legal, social, or institutional standard. The concept is closely related to legality, entitlement, and public recognition.

Usage: The term is used across legal, political, organizational, and everyday language. For example, one can speak of legitimizing a claim, a procedure, a government, or a document. In legal contexts, legitimization often implies formal recognition that allows actions to be legally or officially valid. In political discourse, legitimacy refers to the perceived rightful authority of a government or ruler.

Grammatical notes: In narrative text, legitimierte functions as the Präteritum (past tense) third-person singular form: "er legitimierte" etc. The participle form legitimiert is used for perfect constructions (hat legitimiert) and, when used attributively, can describe something as authorized or recognized, though this adjectival usage is less common than using legitimiert or other descriptors like rechtlich anerkannt or autorisiert.

See also: Legitimität (legitimacy), legitim, legitimieren, autorisieren, genehmigen, anerkennen.

Overall, legitimierte conveys that a process, action, or status has been or was made legitimate through formal recognition or authority.