Etymologically
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riht

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Pronunciation

  • /rixt/, [riçt][1]

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]
  • 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