righteous English · revision 39594

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, compound|attested=early Old English, Vespasian Psalter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɹaɪt͡ʃəs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It continues [[inh|enm|rightwis]] and [[m|enm|rightwos]],^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) [[inh|ang|rihtwīs]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) a compound of [[m|ang|riht|t=right]] and [[m|ang|wīs|t=manner, way, state]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010) The OED treats the second part as the adjective [[wise]] or perhaps the noun meaning "manner" (compare [[-wise]]), and thinks the word may continue a Germanic compound also found in [[m|gml|rechtwīs]].^(OED 2026) In the early 16th century the ending was refashioned after adjectives such as [[bounteous]], [[plenteous]] and [[courteous]], which gave the modern form ''righteous''.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010)^(Klein 1966) Johnson (1755) knew the older form and blamed the change on words being "corrupted by pronunciation".^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a person, acting rightly or justly, conforming to divine law and to accepted morality, and, of an action, morally right: both Old English, in the Vespasian Psalter and in Ælfric.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) The noun, righteous people, is also Old English.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The religious sense has been the core of the word since Old English, when it also served as a noun for the righteous as a class.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In Scotland it had legal senses: of the boundaries of an estate, fixed by law (?1312 to 1746), and lawful or legitimate (from 1391), a sense now rare.^(OED 2026) From 1543 it could mean genuine or correct.^(OED 2026) A negative sense, marked by affected or hypocritical moral superiority, is found from 1809, in Washington Irving's ''History of New York''.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined it as just, honest, virtuous.^(Johnson 1755) In 20th-century American slang, at first chiefly African American, ''righteous'' came to mean excellent or "cool" (1930, the title of a song by Blind Blake),^(OED 2026) a sense Etymonline dates to 1942 in jazz slang,^(Etymonline) and it also became an intensifier, "complete, utter" (1940), and an adverb, "properly, fully" (1948).^(OED 2026) In Worcestershire dialect it meant right, in proper condition, as of a person who felt unwell inside.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – just, virtuous, conforming to divine law; as a noun, righteous people.^(OED 2026)

+ * ?1312 – (Scots law) of boundaries, fixed by law (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1391 – (chiefly Scottish) lawful, legitimate.^(OED 2026)

+ * early 16th century – the spelling ''righteous'' replaces ''rightwise''.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1543 – genuine, correct.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1809 – self-righteous, sanctimonious.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1930 – (US slang) excellent.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1940 – (US slang) utter, complete.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1948 – (US slang) as an adverb, properly, fully.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Morally right and just, especially in keeping with divine or moral law; [[virtuous]], [[upright]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Morally justified, especially from the speaker's own point of view: ''a righteous fury at the waste''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Showing a smug or hypocritical sense of moral superiority; [[sanctimonious]].^(OED 2026)

+ # (US slang) Excellent, genuine or complete.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''the righteous'': righteous people as a class.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[righteously]]

+ * [[righteousness]]

+ * [[self-righteous]]

+ * [[unrighteous]]

+ * [[overrighteous]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[right]]

+ * [[wise]]

+ * [[rightful]]

+ * [[upright]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Etymonline quotes a 19th-century synonym note: ''upright'' draws its force from the image of standing straight, ''righteous'' appeals to the standards, motives and sanctions of religion, ''rightful'' applies to claims rather than conduct, and ''just'' suggests a written law that is itself right.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}