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Definition 2024

riht

riht

See also: riht-

Old English

Alternative forms

Noun

riht n

  1. right, law, justice, moral correctness
    Wiþerwearde Godes beboda and ðæs gastlican rihtes: opponents of God’s commands and the spiritual law. (Homilies)
  2. a right, a justifiable entitlement to something or to some action
  3. one’s right, one’s proper due
    nelle ic ða rincas rihtes benæman: I will not deprive the men of their due. (Cædmon’s Metrical Paraphrase)

Adjective

riht

  1. straight, unbent; direct
  2. right, righteous, just, morally correct, proper
  3. rightful, legitimate, true
    on rihtre æwe: in lawful marriage. (Wulfstan)
  4. pertaining to the right side, as opposed to the left

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *rehtaz ‎(“right, straight”), (an adjective also used substantively as a noun), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós, from the root *h₃reǵ- ‎(“go straight, guide, be just”). Germanic cognates include Old Frisian riuht, Old Saxon reht (Saxon recht), Dutch recht n & adj, Old High German reht (German Recht n, recht adj), Old Norse réttr (Swedish rätt adj), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃. The Indo-European root is also the source of Avestan rāšta ‘straight’, Greek ὀρεκτός ‘outstretched, longed-for’, Latin rēctus, Old Irish recht.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /rɪçt/

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