birthright

C2+ Topic:People & Society

Also spelled birth-right

US /ˈbɜrθraɪt/ UK /ˈbɜːθraɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth

He claimed the throne as his birthright as the eldest son.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a right, privilege, or... inheritance heritage patrimony legacy due entitlement

Word family

Related forms birth right

Etymology

A compound of birth + right (Old English riht 'that which is due, just claim'), denoting a right one has by virtue of being born.

byrðr Old Norse riht Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# birthright

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbɜrθraɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɜːθraɪt/

## Meanings
1. a right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth

## Examples
- He claimed the throne as his birthright as the eldest son.

## Synonyms
- inheritance
- heritage
- patrimony
- legacy
- due
- entitlement

## Related Forms
- birth
- right

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: byrðr
- Root: riht

## Etymology
A compound of birth + right (Old English riht 'that which is due, just claim'), denoting a right one has by virtue of being born.

## AI Etymology
Birthright is a compound of birth + right (Old English riht 'that which is due, just claim'), denoting a right one has by virtue of being born. The historical trail runs through byrðr in Old Norse and riht in Old English. Morphologically, birthright is transparent: it is a compound of birth + right (Old English riht 'that which is due, just claim'), denoting a right one has by virtue of being born. Used as a noun, birthright now means "a right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as birth and right. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct.

## Topics
- People & Society

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