right

{{11}}right (adj.¹) "morally correct," O.E. riht "just, good, fair, proper, fitting, straight," from P.Gmc. *rekhtaz (Cf. O.H.G. reht, Ger. recht, O.N. rettr, Goth. raihts), from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," also "to rule, to lead straight, to put right" (see REGAL (Cf. regal); Cf. Gk. orektos "stretched out, upright;" L. rectus "straight, right;" O.Pers. rasta- "straight, right," arЕЎta- "rectitude;" O.Ir. recht "law;" Welsh rhaith, Breton reiz "just, righteous, wise").

Cf. slang straight "honest, morally upright," and L. rectus "right," lit. "straight," Lith. teisus "right, true," lit. "straight." Gk. dikaios "just" (in the moral and legal sense) is from dike "custom." The noun sense of "just claim" was in Old English and Proto-Germanic. As an emphatic, meaning "you are right," it is recorded from 1580s; use as a question meaning "am I not right?" is from 1961. The phrase to rights "at once, straightway" is 1660s, from sense "in a proper manner" (M.E.). The sense in right whale is "justly entitled to the name."

Phrase right off the bat is 1888, also hot from the bat (1888), probably a baseball metaphor, but cricket is possible as a source; there is an early citation from Australia (in an article about slang): "Well, it is a vice you'd better get rid of then. Refined conversation is a mark of culture. Let me hear that kid use slang again, and I'll give it to him right off the bat. I'll wipe up the floor with him. I'll ---" ["The Australian Journal," November 1888].

Right stuff "best human ingredients" is from 1848, popularized by Tom Wolfe's 1979 book about the first astronauts. Right on! as an exclamation of approval first recorded 1925 in black slang, popularized mid-1960s by Black Panther movement. Right of way is attested from 1768.

{{12}}right (adj.²) "opposite of left," early 12c., riht, from O.E. riht, which did not have this sense but meant "good, proper, fitting, straight" (see RIGHT (Cf. right) (adj.¹)). The notion is of the right hand as the "correct" hand. The usual O.E. word for this was swiþra, lit. "stronger." "The history of words for 'right' and 'left' shows that they were used primarily with reference to the hands" [Buck]. Cf. similar sense evolution in Du. recht, Ger. recht "right (not left)," from O.H.G. reht, which meant only "straight, just." The usual PIE root (*dek-) is represented by L. dexter (see DEXTERITY (Cf. dexterity)). Other derivations on a similar pattern to English right are Fr. droit, from L. directus "straight;" Lith. labas, lit. "good;" and Slavic words (Boh. pravy, Pol. prawy, Rus. pravyj) from O.C.S. pravu, lit. "straight." The political sense of "conservative" is first recorded 1794 (adj.), 1825 (n.), a translation of Fr. Droit "the Right, Conservative Party" in the French National Assembly (1789; see LEFT (Cf. left)).

{{12}}right (v.) O.E. rihtan "to straighten, rule, set up," from riht (adj.); see RIGHT (Cf. right) (adj.¹). Cf. O.N. retta "to straighten," Ger. richten, Goth. garaihtjan.