Search Result for "divine right":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

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;
- Example: "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]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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. [1913 Webster] Seldom your opinions err; Your eyes are always in the right. --Prior. [1913 Webster] (c) A just judgment or action; that which is true or proper; justice; uprightness; integrity. [1913 Webster] Long love to her has borne the faithful knight, And well deserved, had fortune done him right. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. That to which one has a just claim. Specifically: (a) That which one has a natural claim to exact. [1913 Webster] There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster] (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. [1913 Webster] Born free, he sought his right. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] Hast thou not right to all created things? --Milton. [1913 Webster] Men have no right to what is not reasonable. --Burke. [1913 Webster] (d) Privilege or immunity granted by authority. [1913 Webster] 3. The right side; the side opposite to the left. [1913 Webster] Led her to the Souldan's right. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 4. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists. See Center, 5. [1913 Webster] 5. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] He should himself use it by right. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] I should have been a woman by right. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

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