Etymology
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illegitimacy (n.)

1670s; see illegitimate + -acy.

Entries linking to illegitimacy

illegitimate (adj.)
1530s, "born out of wedlock," formed in English (and replacing earlier illegitime, c. 1500), modeled on Late Latin illegitimus "not legitimate" (see il- + legitimate). Sense of "unauthorized, unwarranted" is from 1640s. Phrase illegitimi non carborundum, usually "translated" as "don't let the bastards grind you down," is fake Latin (by 1965, said to date from c. 1939). Carborundum was a brand of abrasives. Related: Illegitimately.
-acy 
word-forming element making nouns of quality, state, or condition, a confusion in English of three similar suffixes from Latin: 1. in primacy, etc., from Old French -acie and directly from Medieval Latin -acia, Late Latin -atia, making nouns of quality, state, or condition from nouns in -as. 2. in advocacy, etc., from Late Latin -atia, forming nouns of state from nouns in -atus. 3. in fallacy, etc., from Latin -acia, forming nouns of quality from adjectives in -ax (genitive -acis). Also forming part of -cracy. Extended in English to nouns not found in Latin (accuracy) and to non-Latin words (piracy).
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Definitions of illegitimacy

illegitimacy (n.)
the status of being born to parents who were not married;
Synonyms: bastardy / bar sinister
illegitimacy (n.)
unlawfulness by virtue of not being authorized by or in accordance with law;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near illegitimacy

ill-bred

illegal

illegality

illegally

illegible

illegitimacy

illegitimate

ill-fated

ill-favored

ill-gotten

illiberal

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