privilege
See also: Privilege and privilège
English
Alternative forms
- priviledg, priviledge (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English privilege, from Anglo-Norman privilege and Old French privilege, from Latin prīvilēgium (“ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual”), from prīvus (“private”) + lēx, lēg- (“law”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪv(ɪ)lɪd͡ʒ/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: priv‧i‧lege, privi‧lege
Noun
privilege (countable and uncountable, plural privileges)
- (ecclesiastical law, now chiefly historical) An exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope. [from 8th c.]
- (countable) A particular benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity enjoyed by some but not others; a prerogative, preferential treatment. [from 10th c.]
- Synonyms: franchise, (UK dialect) freelage, immunity, prerogative, right
- All first-year professors here must teach four courses a term, yet you're only teaching one! What entitled you to such a privilege?
- An especially rare or fortunate opportunity; the good fortune (to do something). [from 14th c.]
- 2012, The Observer, letter, 29 April:
- I had the privilege to sit near him in the House for a small part of his Commons service and there was an additional device provided to aid his participation in debates.
- 2012, The Observer, letter, 29 April:
- (uncountable) The fact of being privileged; the status or existence of (now especially social or economic) benefit or advantage within a given society. [from 14th c.]
- Synonyms: advantage, foredeal
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, Melibeus:
- He is worthy to lesen his priuilege that mysvseth the myght and the power that is yeuen hym.
- 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III:
- People who at any other time would cling like glue to their miserable scraps of privilege, will surrender them fast enough when their country is in danger.
- 2013 October 21, Azad Essa, “South Africa's 'miracle transition' has not put an end to white privilege”, in The Guardian, Guardian Media Group:
- There is no complexity expressed in the feverish discussions of white privilege that periodically grips South Africa's chattering class.
- 2013, The Guardian, 21 Oct, (headline):
- South Africa's 'miracle transition' has not put an end to white privilege.
- A right or immunity enjoyed by a legislative body or its members. [from 16th c.]
- Synonym: immunity
- 2001, The Guardian, leader, 1 May:
- Dr Grigori Loutchansky is – according to a congressman speaking under congressional privilege – a "purported Russian mob figure".
- (countable, US, finance, now rare) A stock market option. [from 19th c.]
- (law) A common law doctrine that protects certain communications from being used as evidence in court.
- Your honor, my client is not required to answer that; her response is protected by attorney-client privilege.
- (computing) An ability to perform an action on the system that can be selectively granted or denied to users.
- Synonym: permission
Synonyms
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- claim, liberty
Derived terms
- cisprivilege
- white privilege
- with privilege
Translations
exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope
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particular benefit, advantage, or favor
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rare or fortunate opportunity
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status or existence of privileges
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right or immunity enjoyed by a legislative body
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finance: stock market option
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legal doctrine
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computing: selectively granted ability
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Verb
privilege (third-person singular simple present privileges, present participle privileging, simple past and past participle privileged)
- (archaic) To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize
- to privilege representatives from arrest
- (archaic) To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver.
Related terms
- allege
Translations
to grant some particular right or exemption to
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to bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger
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References
- privilege at OneLook Dictionary Search
- privilege in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- privilege in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch privilegie, from Old French privilege, from Latin privilegium.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌpri.viˈleː.ʒə/
- Hyphenation: pri‧vi‧le‧ge
Noun
privilege n (plural privileges)
- privilege, prerogative (particular right or favour)
- Synonym: voorrecht
Derived terms
- handelsprivilege
Old French
Noun
privilege m (oblique plural privileges, nominative singular privileges, nominative plural privilege)
- privilege (benefit only given to certain people)
Descendants
- → English: privilege
- Middle French: privilege
- French: privilège
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (privilege, supplement)