right (rīt), adjective [OE. right, riht, AS. riht; akin to D. regt, OS. & OHG. reht, G. recht, Dan. ret, Sw. rätt, Icel. rettr, Goth. raíhts, L. rectus, p. p. of regere to guide, rule; cf. Skr. ṛju straight, right. √115. Cf. Adroit,Alert, Correct, Dress, Regular, Rector, Recto, Rectum, Regent, Region, Realm, Rich, Royal, Rule.]

1. Straight; direct; not crooked; as, a right line.

“Right as any line.” Chaucer

2. Upright; erect from a base; having an upright axis; not oblique; as, right ascension; a right pyramid or cone.

3. Conformed to the constitution of man and the will of God, or to justice and equity; not deviating from the true and just; according with truth and duty; just; true.

That which is conformable to the Supreme Rule is absolutely right, and is called right simply without relation to a special end. Whately.

4. Fit; suitable; proper; correct; becoming; as, the right man in the right place; the right way from London to Oxford.

5. Characterized by reality or genuineness; real; actual; not spurious.

“His right wife.” Chaucer.

In this battle, . . . the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians. Milton.

6. According with truth; passing a true judgment; conforming to fact or intent; not mistaken or wrong; not erroneous; correct; as, this is the right faith.

You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well. Shak.

If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is . . . right, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” Locke.

7. Most favorable or convenient; fortunate.

The lady has been disappointed on the right side. Spectator.

8. Of or pertaining to that side of the body in man on which the muscular action is usually stronger than on the other side; – opposed to left when used in reference to a part of the body; as, the right side, hand, arm. Also applied to the corresponding side of the lower animals.

Became the sovereign’s favorite, his right hand. Longfellow.

☞ In designating the banks of a river, right and left are used always with reference to the position of one who is facing in the direction of the current's flow.

9. Well placed, disposed, or adjusted; orderly; well regulated; correctly done.

10. Designed to be placed or worn outward; as, the right side of a piece of cloth.

At right angles

so as to form a right angle or right angles, as when one line crosses another perpendicularly.

Right and left

in both or all directions. [Colloq.]

Right and left coupling (Pipe fitting),

a coupling the opposite ends of which are tapped for a right-handed screw and a left-handed screw, respectivelly.

Right angle

(a) The angle formed by one line meeting another perpendicularly, as the angles ABD, DBC.

(b) (Spherics) A spherical angle included between the axes of two great circles whose planes are perpendicular to each other.

Right ascension

See under Ascension.

Right Center (Politics)

those members belonging to the Center in a legislative assembly who have sympathies with the Right on political questions. See Center, noun, 5.

Right cone

Right cylinder

Right prism

Right pyramid (Geom.)

a cone, cylinder, prism, or pyramid, the axis of which is perpendicular to the base.

Right line

See under Line.

Right sailing (Naut.)

sailing on one of the four cardinal points, so as to alter a ship's latitude or its longitude, but not both. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Right sphere (Astron. & Geol.)

a sphere in such a position that the equator cuts the horizon at right angles; in spherical projections, that position of the sphere in which the primitive plane coincides with the plane of the equator.

☞ Right is used elliptically for it is right, what you say is right, true.

“Right,” cries his lordship. Pope.

Syn. – Straight; direct; perpendicular; upright; lawful; rightful; true; correct; just; equitable; proper; suitable; becoming.

Right, adverb

1. In a right manner.

2. In a right or straight line; directly; hence; straightway; immediately; next; as, he stood right before me; it went right to the mark; he came right out; he followed right after the guide.

Unto Dian's temple goeth she right. Chaucer.

Let thine eyes look right on. Prov. iv. 25.

Right across its track there lay,
Down in the water, a long reef of gold. Tennyson.

3. Exactly; just. [Obs. or Colloq.]

Came he right now to sing a raven's note? Shak.

4. According to the law or will of God; conforming to the standard of truth and justice; righteously; as, to live right; to judge right.

5. According to any rule of art; correctly.

You with strict discipline instructed right. Roscommon.

6. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really; correctly; exactly; as, to tell a story right.

“Right at mine own cost.” Chaucer.

Right as it were a steed of Lumbardye. Chaucer.

His wounds so smarted that he slept right naught. Fairfax.

7. In a great degree; very; wholly; unqualifiedly; extremely; highly; as, right humble; right noble; right valiant.

“He was not right fat”. Chaucer.

For which I should be right sorry. Tyndale.

[I] return those duties back as are right fit. Shak.

☞ In this sense now chiefly prefixed to titles; as, right honorable; right reverend.

Right honorable

a title given in England to peers and peeresses, to the eldest sons and all daughters of such peers as have rank above viscounts, and to all privy councilors; also, to certain civic officers, as the lord mayor of London, of York, and of Dublin.

☞ Right is used in composition with other adverbs, as upright, downright, forthright, etc.

Right along

without cessation; continuously; as, to work right along for several hours. [Colloq. U.S.]

Right away

or

Right off

at once; straightway; without delay. [Colloq. U.S.]

“We will . . . shut ourselves up in the office and do the work right off.” D. Webster.

4. If; though. See An, conjunction [Obs.] Chaucer.

As they will set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs. Bacon.

And so forth

and others; and the rest; and similar things; and other things or ingredients. The abbreviation, etc. (et cetera), or &c., is usually read and so forth.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913