prerogative

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prerogatif,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman prerogative and Middle French prerogative,^[3][4][2][5] and directly borrowed from Latin praerogātīva (“previous choice; prior right, privilege”).^[3][2][4][5] The Latin noun is the feminine of praerogātīvus (“asked first, chosen to vote first”), used as a noun for the century or tribe to which it fell by lot to vote first in the Roman comitia.^{[3][2][4][6][7]} The adjective is from praerogō (“to ask beforehand”), which is first recorded only in the 4th century,^[3] formed from prae- (“before”) and rogō (“to ask”),^[3][8][5][9] the source of interrogate and rogation.^[8][5] Etymonline takes the Latin verb as a figurative use of a verb meaning to stretch out the hand, going back to Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).^[2] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1307 and the adjective prerogatif from 1292,^[10] and the word was used in the Latin of England from the late 13th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A distinctive attribute or ability that gives its possessor an advantage over others; an inherent privilege or gift: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[3][4] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century, as a special right or privilege.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As Ayto explains, the Latin word named the voters invited to vote before the others, and through that privilege of voting first it came to mean precedence and privilege in general.^[8][4] Latin had already widened it to a prior right, a claim or a privilege, and medieval British Latin used it for pre-eminence and, frequently after about 1178, for the special right of the monarch.^[3] In English the royal sense is recorded from 1404,^[3] and in Anglo-Norman a statute of 1324 was called “De Praerogativa Regis”.^[10] From about 1425, in Lydgate, the word was also used for the privilege of any person or group, and for precedence, a sense obsolete by 1684.^[3] The original Roman sense, the right of voting first, entered English only in 1600, in Holland's translation of Livy.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "an exclusive or peculiar privilege".^[11] The adjective, privileged or arising from a prerogative, dates from about 1475,^[3] and in 1604 the noun was briefly short for a prerogative court.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1387 – an inherent advantage or gift.^[3][4]
• 1404 – the special right of the monarch.^[3]
• c. 1425 – a special right of any person or group; also precedence (obsolete by 1684).^[3]
• c. 1475 – adjective, privileged, arising from a prerogative.^[3]
• 1600 – the right of voting first, and the adjective in prerogative century, in Holland's Livy.^[3]
• before 1616 – verb, to endow with a prerogative, in Shakespeare's Othello.^[3]
• 1646 – adjective, having precedence, leading.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An exclusive right or privilege belonging to a particular office, rank or person: Choosing the wine was always the host's prerogative.^[12][13][3]
2. The special powers and privileges of a sovereign, which may be exercised without question: the royal prerogative.^[12][13][3]
3. Any right or privilege.^[12][3]
4. An inherent advantage or distinctive gift.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or arising from a prerogative; privileged: prerogative powers.^[13][12][3]
2. In Roman history, having the right to vote first: a prerogative century.^[13][3]

Word family

• prerogatived
• prerogative court

Related words

• interrogate
• interrogative
• rogation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster