divine right

divine right
    n 1: the doctrine that kings derive their right to rule directly
         from God and are not accountable to their subjects;
         rebellion is the worst of political crimes; "the doctrine
         of the divine right of kings was enunciated by the Stuarts
         in Britain in the 16th century" [syn: {divine right},
         {divine right of kings}]
    

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.
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                Seldom your opinions err;
                Your eyes are always in the right. --Prior.
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      (c) A just judgment or action; that which is true or
          proper; justice; uprightness; integrity.
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                Long love to her has borne the faithful knight,
                And well deserved, had fortune done him right.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   2. That to which one has a just claim. Specifically:
      (a) That which one has a natural claim to exact.
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                There are no rights whatever, without
                corresponding duties.             --Coleridge.
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      (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.
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                Born free, he sought his right.   --Dryden.
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                Hast thou not right to all created things?
                                                  --Milton.
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                Men have no right to what is not reasonable.
                                                  --Burke.
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      (d) Privilege or immunity granted by authority.
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   3. The right side; the side opposite to the left.
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            Led her to the Souldan's right.       --Spenser.
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   4. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those
      members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists.
      See {Center}, 5.
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   5. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of
      cloth, a carpet, etc.
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   {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.
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            He should himself use it by right.    --Chaucer.
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            I should have been a woman by right.  --Shak.
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   {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.
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43 Moby Thesaurus words for "divine right":
      absolute power, absolutism, appurtenance, authority, birthright,
      claim, competence, competency, conjugal right,
      constituted authority, delegated authority, demand, droit, due,
      faculty, inalienable right, indirect authority, inherent authority,
      interest, jus divinum, lawful authority, legal authority,
      legitimacy, natural right, power, prerogative, prescription,
      presumptive right, pretense, pretension, proper claim,
      property right, regality, right, rightful authority,
      royal prerogative, the say, the say-so, title, vested authority,
      vested interest, vested right, vicarious authority