right

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English right, earlier riht,^[2][3] inherited from Old English riht, Anglian reht,^[4][5] from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz.^[4][6] Old English already used it as an adjective and a noun, with the verb rihtan and the adverb rihte formed from the adjective.^[7][8] Its cognates are Old Frisian riucht, Old Saxon reht, Dutch recht, Old High German reht, German recht, Old Norse réttr and Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (raihts).^[2][5][6] Hoad explains the Germanic adjective as a participial formation with the suffix Proto-Indo-European *-to-,^[8] and Ayto likewise.^[9] It comes from the root *reg- (“to move in a straight line”), also "to rule, to lead straight", the source of Latin rēctus (“straight, right”) and regō (“to rule”), of Ancient Greek ὀρεκτός (orektós, “stretched out, upright”) and of Old Irish recht (“law”).^[4][8][2][9] The same root gave rich, and through Latin regal, royal, rectify and rectum.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English the adjective was used of actions for "just, good, fair, lawful, proper", of people for "disposed to do what is just", and literally for "straight, not bent; direct".^[4][5] Barnhart dates it before 830,^[2] and the OED's first quotation for the sense "upright, righteous" is from the Vespasian Psalter.^[5] The noun, "what is just; a just claim", is recorded about 725, in Beowulf.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The basic meaning of the word and of its cognates is "straight" or "stretched out", but by the Old English period it had already developed the abstract senses of what is just, good or proper.^[10][11] The sense "opposite of left" is a later development: in Old English it appears only in the compound right hand, probably because the right hand was seen as the stronger and more suitable one, and the usual Old English word for it was swiþra (“stronger”).^[5][4] Barnhart first records the adjective in this sense in 1125, and the noun "right side or hand" about 1200;^[2] the OED notes that this meaning is found only in the West Germanic languages,^[5] and Ayto that it is paralleled in German and Dutch but not in Scandinavian.^[9] French droit, from Latin dīrēctus, shows the same development.^[9][4] From the right-hand sense came the senses of direction,^[10] and in 1789 the political sense: in the French National Assembly the nobles sat in the place of honour on the president's right, and the Third Estate on his left.^[11][2] English used the adjective for "conservative" by 1794 and the noun by 1825, the noun as a loan translation of French Droite.^[4][2] The sense "correct, in accordance with fact or reason" is recorded from the 1580s.^[4] The noun meant from Old English times both "what is morally right" and "a just claim, a legal entitlement".^[4][5] The Old English verb rihtan meant to straighten, to guide, rule and set up;^[4][5] it came to mean "to redress a wrong" in the late 14th century, "to bring a ship back upright" by 1745 and "to restore to its proper position" by 1823.^[4][5] The adverb with adjectives, as in right nice, is now colloquial American but dates from about 1200 and is found in Chaucer and Malory.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 725 – noun, justice, a just claim, in Beowulf.^[2]
• before 830 – adjective, just, upright.^[2][5]
• before 899 – verb rihtan, to straighten, rule, set right, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[2][5]
• 1125 – adjective, on the side opposite to the left.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to the early 12th century.^[4]
• c. 1200 – noun, the right hand or right side.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the mid-13th century.^[4]
• late 14th century – verb, to redress or avenge a wrong, and the phrase right angle.^[4]
• 1580s – adjective, correct, in accordance with fact or reason.^[4]
• 1745 – verb, to bring a ship back to an upright position.^[4]
• 1794 – adjective, politically conservative; the noun the Right follows in 1825.^[4][2]
• 1898 – noun, a blow with the right fist.^[4]
• 1925 – right on, as an exclamation of approval.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In accordance with justice, law or morality: It isn't right to cheat at cards.^[12][13][3]
2. In accordance with fact, reason or truth; correct: She gave the right date.^[12][13]
3. Fitting, proper or appropriate: the right shoes for the hike.^[12][13]
4. Most favourable or convenient: the right moment to ask.^[12][13]
5. In a satisfactory state; in good health or of sound mind: not in her right mind.^[12][13][8]
6. On or towards the side opposite to the left: her right hand.^[12][4]
7. Of an angle, of 90 degrees; of a solid figure, having its axis at right angles to its base.^[5][4]
8. Politically conservative.^[4][10]

Noun

1. That which is just, morally good or proper: to know right from wrong.^[12][5]
2. A just or legal claim; an entitlement or privilege: the right to a fair trial.^[4][3]
3. The right side or direction; a turn to the right.^[12][4]
4. Often the Right: the conservative parties or groups.^[12][4][2]
5. In boxing, a blow with the right fist.^[4]

Adverb

1. Towards or on the right.^[12]
2. In a straight line; directly, all the way: He drove right home.^[12][5]
3. Exactly, just: right behind the door.^[12][3]
4. Immediately: right after breakfast.^[12][5]
5. Correctly, properly, or in accordance with justice.^[12][4]
6. Completely, quite, or (chiefly US, colloquial) very: a right nice house.^[12][4][5]
7. In titles: Right Reverend, Right Honourable.^[12][4]

Verb

1. To restore to an upright or proper position: The crew righted the boat.^[12][4][5]
2. To set in order; to correct.^[12]
3. To make amends for; to redress (a wrong).^[12][4][3]
4. To return to an upright position; to recover one's balance.^[12][5][4]

Word family

• righter
• rightness
• rightmost
• rightable
• alright
• righteous
• right-hand
• right-handed

Related words

• downright
• forthright
• outright
• upright
• rectify
• rectum
• rectitude
• rich
• regal
• royal
• direct
• rite

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes right, a legal, moral or traditional claim, from privilege, prerogative and perquisite.^[12] The noun right was also once used as a spelling of rite, which the Shorter Oxford calls erroneous and Merriam-Webster archaic.^[14][3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ 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 z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press