Writ of right

Writ of right
Right Right, n. [AS. right. See {Right}, a.] 1. That which is right or correct. Specifically: (a) The straight course; adherence to duty; obedience to lawful authority, divine or human; freedom from guilt, -- the opposite of moral wrong. (b) A true statement; freedom from error of falsehood; adherence to truth or fact. [1913 Webster]

Seldom your opinions err; Your eyes are always in the right. --Prior. [1913 Webster] (c) A just judgment or action; that which is true or proper; justice; uprightness; integrity. [1913 Webster]

Long love to her has borne the faithful knight, And well deserved, had fortune done him right. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

2. That to which one has a just claim. Specifically: (a) That which one has a natural claim to exact. [1913 Webster]

There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster] (b) That which one has a legal or social claim to do or to exact; legal power; authority; as, a sheriff has a right to arrest a criminal. (c) That which justly belongs to one; that which one has a claim to possess or own; the interest or share which anyone has in a piece of property; title; claim; interest; ownership. [1913 Webster]

Born free, he sought his right. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

Hast thou not right to all created things? --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Men have no right to what is not reasonable. --Burke. [1913 Webster] (d) Privilege or immunity granted by authority. [1913 Webster]

3. The right side; the side opposite to the left. [1913 Webster]

Led her to the Souldan's right. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

4. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists. See {Center}, 5. [1913 Webster]

5. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]

He should himself use it by right. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

I should have been a woman by right. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • writ of right — see writ Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • writ of right — A writ which is grantable as a matter of right, as opposed to a prerogative writ, which is issued only as a matter of grace or discretion. A writ which lay for one who had the right of property, against another who had the right of possession and …   Black's law dictionary

  • writ of right — noun a writ ordering that land be restored to its rightful owner • Topics: ↑law, ↑jurisprudence • Hypernyms: ↑writ, ↑judicial writ * * * 1. : an original writ used to protect a feudal tenant in the enjoyment of his freehold property by trial of… …   Useful english dictionary

  • writ of right close — a writ of right used for tenants of the ancient demesne and directed to the bailiff of the manor commanding the lord to do right in his court …   Useful english dictionary

  • writ of right patent — a writ of right directed to the sheriff and used in behalf of a person claiming to hold land by free tenure of a mesne lord …   Useful english dictionary

  • writ of right — Date: 15th century 1. a common law writ for restoring to its owner property held by another 2. a writ granted as a matter of right …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • writ of right — 1. Eng. Law. a writ directed to a person who presided over a feudal court, directing him to render justice between his vassals in a dispute as to ownership of land: usually led to a trial in a royal court if feudal ownership was involved. 2. Law …   Universalium

  • writ of right — noun Law 1. History one of two writs issued by a manorial court in a dispute between feudal tenants as to ownership or extent of a freehold. 2. US a similar writ, now supplanted by ejectment actions …  

  • writ of right — An ancient writ for the recovery of real property wrongfully withheld from the owner. The term was also applied to that class of writs which the sovereign was bound by Magna Charta to issue, and which are distinguishable from prerogative writs …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • writ of right close — A writ which lay for the king s tenants in ancient demesne, and others of a similar nature, to try the right of then lands and tenements in the court of the lord exclusively. See 3 Bl Comm 195 …   Ballentine's law dictionary

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