Skip to main content
birthright

birthright

61 4.9
A right or privilege a person has from birth
  • noun
  • /ˈbɜrθraɪt/
translation icon : derecho de nacimiento
  • Singing is the birthright of every child with a normal speaking voice.
  • sell one's birthright
  • birthright of every child
  • human birthright

It has stolen our birthright, and our birthright is to be happy.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Today, that birthright passes to you, Noah.

  • By lifting their voices to claim their birthright, these first people engage in a form of protest.

    Academic text (2016)
  • I have given up my birthright for it.

  • It's our birthright to rule.

  • For both of us, it is a birthright we cannot escape.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • After all, it is your birthright.

  • Freedom is the birthright of all humankind.

  • I think it would be fair to say that the freedman's condition is the birthright of every American.

    Academic text (2002)
  • It has stolen our birthright, and our birthright is to be happy.

  • Access to the natural environment ought to be a birthright of every human being.

Synonyms

right
vsbirthright
2.3

Permission given by law or moral rule to have something

is specifically from birth by family or society, not any general entitlement
privilege
vsbirthright
444 3.7

A special right or advantage for certain people

is a right someone has from birth, tied to family or social status
entitlement
vsbirthright
  • Formal
142 5.1

A right under law or contract to get money

is given by birth through family or society rather than by law or contract
prerogative
vsbirthright
  • Formal
50 8.2

A special right that only a person or group has

is a right from birth by family or society, not only officially granted
exclusive right
vsbirthright
  • Specialized
9 7.1

Permission that only one person or group can use

is a birth-based entitlement rather than a formal exclusive claim
patrimony
vsbirthright
  • Specialized
3 8.2

Property passed down in a family or left to a church

is any right held from birth, covering privileges or possessions inherited or granted

Idioms

To give up something very important for little or no value

To give up something very important for a small, quick gain

Surface Forms

birthright singular
birthrights plural

Morphology

birthright = birth + right (transparent) = birth + right

The compound directly denotes a 'right' or entitlement that pertains from the time of one's birth; components combine in an obvious, literal way.

Etymology

Birthright is made of two simple words: birth ('being born') and right ('a claim or thing you are allowed to have'). So a birthright is something you have from the moment you are born, like a family right or a basic right in your country.