Droit

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /dɹɔɪt/

Definitions

1. A legal right or due, particularly one owed to a feudal lord or sovereign authority
2. An entitlement or legal claim, especially in relation to governance or sovereignty
3. A privilege or legal duty associated with authority or land ownership

Etymology: The English noun "droit" is a doublet of "direct," meaning the two words descend from the same Latin ancestor but reached English by different routes. The Latin "directus" ("straight, upright, direct") gave Old French "dreit" and then "droit," which carried the sense of what is straight, correct, or just. Over time that moral sense of rightness became a legal one: a claim or entitlement that the law recognises, and especially one owed to a feudal lord or to a sovereign. The surprising part is how far the two cousins have drifted. "Direct" entered English more directly from Latin in the sense of straight and unbent, and it kept that spatial core. "Droit" came through the French of the law courts, where it took on the sense of an owed due. In English it survives mainly in legal and historical contexts, often in the plural "droits," meaning rights or perquisites attached to an office or property.

Synonyms: right, entitlement

Antonyms: wrong, injustice