rightnessn.
/ˈrʌɪtnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈraɪtnəs/ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [noun]
rightnesseOE
rectitude?a1425
straightness1530
directness1598
straighta1644
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn Minor Lat.-Old Eng. Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 186 Perpendicula, walðræd, þæt is rihtnesse.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 219 (MED) Vre leuedi is iuened to gerde..gerde rihtnesse he heuede on hire liflode.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 274 (MED) Thay hauen also a maner of sitynge after þe rightnesse of restynge in þe bedde.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 295 (MED) Þanne þe arowe schulde þe raþer come into his dewe riȝtnesse and euennesse.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/1 Streightnesse rightnesse, droicteur.
1592 N. Gyer Eng. Phlebotomy vi. 52 Thirdly, care must be had of the rightnes and straightnes of the veynes, which care being had great profit insueth.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie ii. iii. 43 Rightnesse is a propertie of a Line whereby it is carried leuelly or equally throwout the Escocheon, without either rising or falling.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §201 Which nevertheless is not caused by the Rightness of the Line, but by the shortness of the distance.
1875 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera V. 303 This higher order of contending and victorious rightness, which in our present business is best represented by the track of an arrow, or rifle-shot, affected in its course both by gravity and the wind, is the more beautiful rightness or directness of the two.
2. † b. Fidelity to something. Obsolete. rare.
a. The quality or condition of being morally right or good; justice, rectitude; righteousness, integrity.In quot. c1350 as the personification of equity.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > [noun]
righteousnesseOE
rightnessOE
justice1340
rightfulnessa1350
right wiseness1447
justnessc1450
droiture1483
rectitude1509
uprightness1541
erectness1646
principle1653
right-mindedness1767
perpendicular1823
OE Paris Psalter (1932) xcvii. 9 He ymbhwyrft eorþan demeð.., and his syndrig folc on rihtnesse [L. in aequitate] ræde gebringeð.
c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1627 Oure Louerd loveth soth and riȝtnisse [c1300 Laud riȝt and sothnesse].
c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 265 Ryȝnesse zayþ, ‘Lybbe we sobreliche, ryuollyche an bonayrelyche.’
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 53 (MED) Alle creaturis shal..witnesse to Cristis dome þat it is fulli riȝtnesse [a1425 Douce riȝtwys; a1425 Royal riȝtwise].
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 263/1 Rightnesse, rectitude.
a1560 Lang. Rosair in J. A. W. Bennett Devotional Pieces (1955) 328 Iesu, quhom ȝe Jowis accusit, contrary to richtnis, mony thingis be fals witnes, quhilk he was gyltles.
1646 H. Lawrence Of Communion & Warre with Angels 125 Sincerity is immixednesse, and rightnesse of ends.
1650 W. Brough Sacred Princ. 371 A Rightnesse in Religion and Conversation, perfect a good man.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 554 It is not necessary for a Man to be assured of the Rightness of his Conscience.
1834 T. Chalmers On Power of God II. 89 A rightness which..hath had everlasting residence in the character of the Godhead.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 415 Pride and independence of God are the centre of the want of rightness.
1891 H. Jones Browning as Teacher 74 The meaning of the universe is moral, its last might is rightness.
1904 H. James Golden Bowl II. v. xxxix. 310 She had to confirm day after day the rightness of her cause and the justice and felicity of her exemption.
1908 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 18 506 He rejects all systems of Ethics which make the rightness of action dependent partly on their results.
1988 G. Sayer Jack xiv. 159 Jack was horrified by England's declaration of war on Germany, but he had no doubt of its rightness.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > fidelity or loyalty > [noun]
truthOE
trotha1225
trueness?c1225
fayc1300
hold13..
lewtyc1330
faithfulnessc1400
perseverance?a1439
adherence1449
familiarityc1450
fidelity1509
devotiona1530
adherency1579
reality1616
rightness1625
lealty1861
lealness1882
1625 J. Wilson Some Helpes to Faith vii. 153 Doe you not desire rightnesse to your conscience, soundnesse of heart in Gods Statutes?
1654 E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 95 His rightnes to our cause I take up upon my implicite faith of Sir E. Hide.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > [noun]
weenc888
rightnessOE
steemc1330
sight1362
witc1374
emprisea1393
reputation?c1400
apprizingc1449
nick?a1450
vail1471
countc1475
opinionc1480
estimationc1522
meting1548
reckoning1548
valuation1548
computation1558
account1583
cess1588
esteem1598
appreciation1605
resentiment1606
repute1610
ratea1616
assessmenta1626
estimate1637
vote1639
supputation1643
compute1646
value1651
resentment1655
contemplation1673
critique1798
appraisement1808
appraisal1817
viewa1854
sizing up1967
chit1989
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxv. 19 Uenit dominus seruorum illorum et posuit rationem cum eis : cuom drihten ðeana ðara & sette rehtnise mið him.
4. Accordance with truth or fact; correctness, accuracy, precision.In quot. ?a1425: correct composition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > [noun]
rightness?a1425
sureness1589
accurateness1611
right1633
rectitude1656
unerringnessa1674
justness1832
errorlessness1875
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [noun] > aptness or appositeness
rightness?a1425
aptnessa1538
happiness1550
felicity1605
aptitude1643
patness1653
appositeness1664
apropos1860
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 57v (MED) If þer were medled with þe forsaid þing a litel of gode wyne þat yt makeþ to perse, it war not fer fro riȝtnez.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxxi. 178 It is in our Ideas, that both the Rightness of our Knowledge, and the Propriety or Intelligibleness of our Speaking consists.
1693 S. R. tr. A. Baillet Life M. Des Cartes iv. 111 Monsieur Fermat perswaded, as before, of the rightness of his method..found much ado to grant the Exceptions Mons. Des Cartes had brought in.
1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 240 Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable, not for the rightness, but uprightness of the decision.
1834 S. Turner Sacred Hist. World II. iii. 51 Whoever values rightness of thought or advancement of knowledge, will not willingly make use of any terms without a distinct and clear meaning in his own mind.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. Pref. p. ix All that I can secure, therefore, is rightness in main points and main tendencies; for it is perfectly possible to protect oneself against small errors, and yet to make great and final error in the sum of work.
1885 Law Times Rep. 53 199/1 I..followed it without expressing any opinion as to the rightness of the decision.
1912 O. Elton Surv. Eng. Lit. (1920) II. xiv. 9 His achromatic prose, with all its effortless ease and rightness, leaves us impatient and dissatisfied.
1919 A. MacLeish Let. 30 Dec. (1983) 63 I am not prepared at this time to argue the rightness or wrongness of that theorem.
2002 Foreign Policy July–Aug. 36/1 You must decide if you are going to argue for the absolute rightness of your ideas.
5.
a. The fact or condition of being good or suitable; fittingness, appropriateness; quality, excellence, soundness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun]
goodnessOE
mund?c1250
daintethc1290
bountyc1300
daintyc1300
excellencec1384
virtuea1393
excellency?a1400
nobilitya1400
meritc1425
singularity?c1450
fineness1523
admirationa1533
rareness1545
rightness1561
rariety1566
rarity1566
excellentness1569
beautya1586
admirableness1607
primeness1611
gallantry1650
eximiety1656
optimity1656
altesse1660
unexceptionableness1669
excellingness1701
quality1803
sterlingness1815
stupendosity1828
goodliness1832
superbness1832
unexceptionability1837
sweetness and light1867
class1884
rortiness1885
rippingness1903
superstardom1928
motherfucker1977
awesomeness1998
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. Pref. Accordyng to the rightenesse that they haue bothe of witt, judgement and mynde.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding §188 The fitness of the word, the rightness of the timing of it,..was marvellous to me to find.
1675 C. Cotton Planters Man. 90 One is much more assured of the vigour of Trees, and the rightness of the sorts he desires, when he has them of his own raising.
1754 S. Fielding & J. Collier Cry II. iii. i. 18 To this Rightness of mind, this completion of wisdom and goodness (as far as the human mind can tread the road to perfection) I would, if allowed, give the name of the Dextra.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 152 That poet who is distinguished..from all others—not by power, but by exquisite rightness.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics iii. 394 The..coincidence of rightness or approvedness and utility.
1899 F. W. O. Ward Eng. Roses 294 The touch of a delicate lightness That made absolute order and rightness Is exchanged for the foolish and fast.
1959 D. Cooke Lang. Music ii. 57 Wagner..makes a musical demonstration of the natural ‘rightness’ of the harmonic series.
1977 Time 17 Jan. 34/3 Every cut of the chisel seems to possess the final, unlaboured rightness of a brush stroke by a master of sumi-e (ink painting).
1992 New Republic 18 May 38/3 A snob and a dandy, smugly convinced of the rightness of his own taste.
b. An instance of this; (poetic) a moment of truth or perfection.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > [noun] > instance of
rectitude1802
rightness1872
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [noun] > aptness or appositeness > instance of
felicity1665
rightness1872
1872 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera II. xiv. 20 The rightnesses only perceived; the felicities only remembered.
1921 N. Amer. Rev. Sept. 349 The amazing verbal subtleties and rightnesses of a Stevenson, a Conrad, ar lost—most of them—in the haste and the silence in which they are read.
1977 Hudson Rev. 30 193 Firm energies and rightnesses are found unanticipated in free competition.
1993 Utne Reader Jan.–Feb. 101/2 In belonging to a landscape, one feels a rightness, an at-homeness, a knitting of self and world.
6. The fact, quality, or condition of being on or towards the right of something (in various senses); rightward orientation. Opposed to leftness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [noun] > fact of having distinct sides > one or other side or hand > the right > condition of being on
rightness1884
1884 W. James in Mind Apr. 282 In any system, as such, the members are only members in the system. Abolish the system and you abolish its members... Neither rightness nor leftness, except through bi-laterality. Neither mortgager nor mortgagee, except through mortgage.
1910 Oxf. & Cambr. Rev. 9 59 People who have no particular political convictions, but wish to curry favour with the crowd, demonstratively insist on their leftness, and vigorously abuse the less noisy for their ‘rightness’.
1967 Arch. Neurol. 16 145/2 Such ‘emotional’ behavior, for example, crying or laughing, is bilaterally symmetrical, equipotential, and without preference to ‘rightness’ or ‘leftness’.
1996 R. Cummins Representations, Targets, & Attitudes vii. 105 Understanding the words ‘right’ and ‘left’ requires, at most, having concepts of leftness and rightness, not representations of them.
2005 D. Kisatsky United States & European Right Pref. p. x The ideological rightness or leftness of prospective allies ultimately mattered less than did their political pliancy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.eOE