RIGHT, a. rite. [L. rectus, from the root of rego, properly to strain or stretch, whence straight.]

1. Straight. A right line in geometry is the shortest line that can be drawn or imagined between two points. A right line may be horizontal, perpendicular, or inclined to the plane of the horizon.
2. In morals and religion, just; equitable; accordant to the standard of truth and justice or the will of God. That alone is right in the sight of God, which is consonant to his will or law; this being the only perfect standard of truth and justice. In social and political affairs, that is right which is consonant to the laws and customs of a country, provided these laws and customs are not repugnant to the laws of God. A man's intentions may be right, though his actions may be wrong in consequence of a defect in judgment.
3. Fit; suitable; proper; becoming. In things indifferent, or which are regulated by no positive law, that is right which is best suited to the character, occasion or purpose, or which is fitted to produce some good effect. It is right for a rich man to dress himself and his family in expensive clothing, which it would not be right for a poor man to purchase. It is right for every man to choose his own time for eating or exercise. Right is a relative term; what may be right for one end, may be wrong for another.
4. Lawful; as, the right heir of an estate.
5. True; not erroneous or wrong; according to fact. If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is certainly right, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” – Locke.
6. Correct; passing a true judgment; not mistaken or wrong. You are right, justice, and you weigh this well. – Shak.
7. Not left, but its opposite; most convenient or dextrous; as, the right hand, which is generally most strong or most convenient in use.
8. Most favorable or convenient. The lady has been disappointed on the right side. – Spectator.
9. Properly placed, disposed or adjusted; orderly; well regulated.
10. Well performed, as an art or act.
11. Most direct; as, the right way from London to Oxford.
12. Being on the same side as the right hand; as, the right side.
13. Being on the right hand of a person whose face is toward the mouth of a river; as, the right bank of the Hudson.

1. In a right or straight line; directly. Let thine eyes look right on. – Prov. iv.
2. According to the law or will of God, or to the standard of truth and justice; as, to judge right.
3. According to any rule of art. You with strict discipline instructed right. – Roscommon.
4. According to fact or truth; as, to tell a story right.
5. In a great degree; very; as, right humble; right noble; right valiant. [Obsolescent or inelegant.]
6. It is prefixed to titles; as, in right honorable; right reverend.

Is used elliptically for it is right, what you say is right, it is true, &c. Right, cries his lordship. – Pope. On the right, on the side with the right hand.

1. Conformity to the will of God, or to his law, the perfect standard of truth and justice. In the literal sense, right is a straight line of conduct, and wrong a crooked one. Right therefore is rectitude or straightness, and perfect rectitude is found only in an infinite Being and his will.
2. Conformity to human laws, or to other human standard of truth, propriety or justice. When laws are definite, right and wrong are easily ascertained and understood. In arts, there are some principles and rules which determine what is right. In many things indifferent, or left without positive law, we are to judge what is right by fitness or propriety, by custom, civility or other circumstances.
3. Justice; that which is due or proper; as, to do right to every man. Long love to her has borne the faithful knight, / And well deserv'd, had fortune done him right. – Dryden.
4. Freedom from error; conformity with truth or fact. Seldom your opinions err, / Your eyes are always in the right. – Prior.
5. Just claim; legal title; ownership; the legal power of exclusive possession and enjoyment. In hereditary monarchies, a right to the throne vests in the heir on the decease of the king. A deed vests the right of possession in the purchaser of land. Right and possession are very different things. We often have occasion to demand and sue for rights not in possession.
6. Just claim by courtesy, customs, or the principles of civility and decorum. Every man has a right to civil treatment. The magistrate has a right to respect.
7. Just claim by sovereignty; prerogative. God, as the author of all things, has a right to govern and dispose of them at his pleasure.
8. That which justly belongs to one. Born free, he sought his right. – Dryden.
9. Property; interest. A subject in his prince may claim a right. – Dryden.
10. Just claim; immunity; privilege. All men have a right to the secure enjoyment of life, personal safety, liberty and property. We deem the right of trial by jury invaluable, particularly in the case of crimes. Rights are natural, civil, political, religious, personal, and public.
11. Authority; legal power. We have no right to disturb others in the enjoyment of their religious opinions.
12. In the United States, a tract of land; or a share or proportion of property, as in a mine or manufactory.
13. The side opposite to the left; as, on the right. Look to the right. To rights, in a direct line; straight. [Unusual.] – Woodward. #2. Directly; soon. To set to rights, or To put to rights, to put into good order; to adjust; to regulate what is out of order. Bill of rights, a list of rights; a paper containing a declaration of rights, or the declaration itself. Writ of right, a writ which lies to recover lands in fee simple, unjustly withheld from the true owner. – Blackstone.

To rise with the masts erect, as a ship.

1. To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; as, to right an injured person. – Taylor.
2. In seamen's language, to right a ship, is to restore her to an upright position from a careen. To right the helm, to place it in the middle of the ship.

1. Straight; direct; not crooked; as, a right line.
   
   
   "Right as any line." Chaucer
2. In a right manner.
3. That which is right or correct.
   
   
   Specifically: (a)
4. To bring or restore to the proper or natural position] to set upright; to make right or straight (that which has been wrong or crooked); to correct.
5. To recover the proper or natural condition or position; to become upright.
6. Upright; erect from a base; having an upright axis; not oblique; as, right ascension; a right pyramid or cone.
7. In a right or straight line; directly; hence; straightway; immediately; next; as, he stood right before me; it went right to the mark; he came right out; he followed right after the guide.
   
   

   Unto Dian's temple goeth she right. Chaucer.

   Let thine eyes look right on. Prov. iv. 25.

   Right across its track there lay,
   Down in the water, a long reef of gold. Tennyson.

8. That to which one has a just claim.
   
   
   Specifically: (a)
9. To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of; as, to right the oppressed; to right one's self; also, to vindicate.
   
   

   So just is God, to right the innocent. Shak.

   All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. Jefferson.

   To right a vessel (Naut.), to restore her to an upright position after careening. -- To right the helm (Naut.), to place it in line with the keel.

10. Hence, to regain an upright position, as a ship or boat, after careening.
11. Conformed to the constitution of man and the will of God, or to justice and equity; not deviating from the true and just; according with truth and duty; just; true.
    
    

    That which is conformable to the Supreme Rule is absolutely right, and is called right simply without relation to a special end. Whately.

12. Exactly; just.
    
    
    [Obs. or Colloq.]

    Came he right now to sing a raven's note? Shak.

13. The right side; the side opposite to the left.
    
    

    Led her to the Souldan's right. Spenser.

14. Fit; suitable; proper; correct; becoming; as, the right man in the right place; the right way from London to Oxford.
15. According to the law or will of God; conforming to the standard of truth and justice; righteously; as, to live right; to judge right.
16. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists. See Center, 5.
17. Characterized by reality or genuineness; real; actual; not spurious.
    
    
    "His right wife." Chaucer.

    In this battle, . . . the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians. Milton.

18. According to any rule of art; correctly.
    
    

    You with strict discipline instructed right. Roscommon.

19. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc.
    
    

    At all right, at all points; in all respects. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Bill of rights, a list of rights; a paper containing a declaration of rights, or the declaration itself. See under Bill. -- By right, By rights, or By good rights, rightly; properly; correctly.

    He should himself use it by right. Chaucer.

    I should have been a woman by right. Shak.

    -- Divine right, or Divine right of kings, a name given to the patriarchal theory of government, especially to the doctrine that no misconduct and no dispossession can forfeit the right of a monarch or his heirs to the throne, and to the obedience of the people. -- To rights. (a) In a direct line; straight. [R.] Woodward. (b) At once; directly. [Obs. or Colloq.] Swift. -- To set to rights, To put to rights, to put in good order; to adjust; to regulate, as what is out of order. -- Writ of right (Law), a writ which lay to recover lands in fee simple, unjustly withheld from the true owner. Blackstone.

20. According with truth; passing a true judgment; conforming to fact or intent; not mistaken or wrong; not erroneous; correct; as, this is the right faith.
    
    

    You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well. Shak.

    If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is . . . right, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Locke.

21. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really; correctly; exactly; as, to tell a story right.
    
    
    "Right at mine own cost." Chaucer.

    Right as it were a steed of Lumbardye. Chaucer.

    His wounds so smarted that he slept right naught. Fairfax.

22. Most favorable or convenient; fortunate.
    
    

    The lady has been disappointed on the right side. Spectator.

23. In a great degree; very; wholly; unqualifiedly; extremely; highly; as, right humble; right noble; right valiant.
    
    
    "He was not right fat". Chaucer.

    For which I should be right sorry. Tyndale.

    [I] return those duties back as are right fit. Shak.

    * In this sense now chiefly prefixed to titles; as, right honorable; right reverend.

    Right honorable, a title given in England to peers and peeresses, to the eldest sons and all daughters of such peers as have rank above viscounts, and to all privy councilors; also, to certain civic officers, as the lord mayor of London, of York, and of Dublin.

    * Right is used in composition with other adverbs, as upright, downright, forthright, etc.

    Right along, without cessation; continuously; as, to work right along for several hours. [Colloq. U.S.] -- Right away, or Right off, at once; straightway; without delay. [Colloq. U.S.] "We will . . . shut ourselves up in the office and do the work right off." D. Webster.

24. Of or pertaining to that side of the body in man on which the muscular action is usually stronger than on the other side; -- opposed to left when used in reference to a part of the body; as, the right side, hand, arm. Also applied to the corresponding side of the lower animals.
    
    

    Became the sovereign's favorite, his right hand. Longfellow.

    * In designating the banks of a river, right and left are used always with reference to the position of one who is facing in the direction of the current's flow.

25. Well placed, disposed, or adjusted; orderly; well regulated; correctly done.
26. Designed to be placed or worn outward; as, the right side of a piece of cloth.
    
    

    At right angles, so as to form a right angle or right angles, as when one line crosses another perpendicularly. -- Right and left, in both or all directions. [Colloq.] -- Right and left coupling (Pipe fitting), a coupling the opposite ends of which are tapped for a right-handed screw and a left-handed screw, respectivelly. -- Right angle. (a) The angle formed by one line meeting another perpendicularly, as the angles ABD, DBC. (b) (Spherics) A spherical angle included between the axes of two great circles whose planes are perpendicular to each other. -- Right ascension. See under Ascension. -- Right Center (Politics), those members belonging to the Center in a legislative assembly who have sympathies with the Right on political questions. See Center, n., 5. -- Right cone, Right cylinder, Right prism, Right pyramid (Geom.), a cone, cylinder, prism, or pyramid, the axis of which is perpendicular to the base. -- Right line. See under Line. -- Right sailing (Naut.), sailing on one of the four cardinal points, so as to alter a ship's latitude or its longitude, but not both. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- Right sphere (Astron. *** Geol.), a sphere in such a position that the equator cuts the horizon at right angles] in spherical projections, that position of the sphere in which the primitive plane coincides with the plane of the equator.

    * Right is used elliptically for it is right, what you say is right, true.

    "Right," cries his lordship. Pope.

    Syn. -- Straight; direct; perpendicular; upright; lawful; rightful; true; correct; just; equitable; proper; suitable; becoming.