riht

Forms

riht (superlative rihtost)^[1]

• Anglian: reht, in the Vespasian Psalter gloss and the Lindisfarne gloss.^[2][3][4]
• Early West Saxon: ryht.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *reht (“right, straight”), from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz (“straight”).^[1][6] The adjective is common to the Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (raihts), Old Norse réttr, Old Frisian riucht, Old Saxon reht and Old High German reht.^[6][7][8] The noun is the same word used as a noun, as in Old Norse, Old Frisian and Old High German.^[9][8]

Kroonen explains it as a *-to- adjective *h₃reǵ-to- to the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to make straight”), the root of Proto-Germanic *rakjaną (Old English reċċan (“to stretch”)); its nearest relatives outside Germanic are Latin rēctus (“straight”), Ancient Greek ὀρεκτός (orektós, “stretched out”) and Avestan rašta- (“straight”).^[6][7] Orel compares the noun with Old Irish recht (“law”),^[9] and Wiktionary suggests that the Celtic word may have influenced the Germanic noun.^[1]

Palatal umlaut turned an earlier ⟨reoht⟩ into West Saxon ⟨riht⟩; early West Saxon writes the simple word ⟨ryht⟩, late West Saxon ⟨riht⟩.^[10][5] Anglian has ⟨reht⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, of the middle of the ninth century, in its Anglian form: se hale gedoeð ða rehtan on heortan “who makes whole the upright in heart” renders the Latin “qui saluos facit rectos corde” of Psalm 7.^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first means straight, erect or direct, literally (a straight road, an upright cross) and figuratively (the right way to heaven); Bosworth and Toller also note it for the right hand.^[12] It then means just and equitable, lawful and regular (riht cyning “lawful king”, rihtre ǣwe “lawful marriage”), upright of persons, and true or genuine.^[12][13][14] In glosses it renders Latin “rectus”, “iustus” and “legitimus”.^[8]

The noun can name a plumb line, reht over Latin “perpendiculo”, but mostly means law, rule and canon, then justice and what is right, a right or due, truth, and an account to be rendered (ryht āgieldan “to give an account”).^[12][13][14] It renders Latin “ius”, “fas”, “debitum” and “ratio”.^[8] It is very frequent in the laws, and on riht and mid rihte mean “rightly”.^[15][14]

The word lived on as Middle English right, now English right.^[4][16]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – ða rehtan on heortan “the upright in heart” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[11][3]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – rihtra Eastrana “of the right Easter” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[17][3]
• s. x³/⁴ – rehta “straight” in the Lindisfarne gloss.^[2][18]
• s. x/xi – the noun, sōð ond riht and “law”, in the Beowulf manuscript.^[19][20]
• a1121 – Middle English riht in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. straight, erect, direct.^[12][8]
2. (rare) right, as opposed to left.^[12][1]
3. just, equitable, right.^[12]
4. lawful, legitimate, regular.^[12][14]
5. (of persons) upright, righteous.^[13]
6. true, real, genuine.^[14][1]

Noun

1. a plumb line.^[12]
2. law, rule, canon.^[12][8]
3. what is right; justice, equity.^[12][14]
4. a right, privilege; what is due.^[13][14]
5. correctness, truth.^[14]
6. a reckoning, account.^[13][21]

Word family

• ġeriht
• rihtan
• rihtlīċ
• rihtnes
• rihtwīs
• rihtwīsnes
• unriht
• folcriht
• landriht
• rihthand

Descendants

• Middle English right (→ English right; English reight; English reet)^[1]

Related words

• reċċan

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer, p. s.v. reht
3. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
4. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.170
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 408
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 300
8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. riht
9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 301
10. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.114
11. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 796
13. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 687
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 280
15. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 184
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
18. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 291
19. ^ Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. riht
20. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
21. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 163