The origin of the word right

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• ryght (obsolete)
• reight (Yorkshire)
• rite (informal)

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Britain and Ireland)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rīt, IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪt/, [ˈɹaɪt]
  • (Estuary English) IPA^(key): [ˈɹɒɪʔ]
  • (Yorkshire, dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪt/, /ˈɹiːt/
  • (Hiberno-English) IPA^(key): [ˈɹaɪθ̠], (Ulster) [ˈɻɐʏt], [-ʔ]
• (North America)
  • (General American) enPR: rīt, IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪt/, [ˈɹaɪt], [-t̚]
  • (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʌɪt/, (Nova Scotia, dialectal) /ˈɹeɪt/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪt/, [ˈɹɑe̯t]
• (General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪt/, [ˈɹäːtʰ]
• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Homophones: rite, wright, Wright, write, rate (dialectal; certain senses only)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English right, from Old English riht (“right,” also the word for “straight” and “direct”), from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós (“having moved in a straight line”), from *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, direct”). An Indo-European past participle, it became a Germanic adjective which has been used also as a noun since the common Germanic period. Cognate with West Frisian rjocht, Dutch recht, German recht and Recht, Swedish rätt and rät, Danish ret, Norwegian Bokmål rett, Norwegian Nynorsk rett, and Icelandic rétt. The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ὀρεκτός (orektós) and Latin rēctus; Albanian drejt was borrowed from Latin.

Adjective[edit]

right (comparative righter or more right, superlative rightest or rightmost)

1. (archaic) Straight, not bent.

   a right line…

2. (geometry) Of an angle, having a size of 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation; the angle between two perpendicular lines.

   The kitchen counter formed a right angle with the back wall.

3. (geometry) Of a geometric figure, incorporating a right angle between edges, faces, axes, etc.

4. Complying with justice, correctness, or reason; correct, just, true.
   • 1610, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding/Book II

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

   • 1808, Bishop Joseph Hall, Devotional works

     there are some dispositions blame-worthy in men, which are yet, in a right sense, holily ascribed unto God; as unchangeableness, and irrepentance.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Chapter 13

     What do you send me into London for, giving me only the right to call for my dinner at the Black Lion, which you’re to pay for next time you go, as if I was not to be trusted with a few shillings? Why do you use me like this? It’s not right of you. You can’t expect me to be quiet under it.

   • 2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

     Sam Tyler: Look, look, you know when I said I wasn’t wrong? Well, I was. But I was right about this not being the IRA. I was right to follow my instincts. Like you said, go with your gut feeling. I’m just taking your lead.
     Gene Hunt: So I’m right.
     Sam Tyler: We both are.
     Gene Hunt: Right.
     Sam Tyler: Right.
     Gene Hunt: Just as long as I’m more right than you.

   • 2018 January 4, Catherine Ford, «Religious-Based Health Care Raises Ethical Questions», Calgary Herald:

     But when that patient requests access to medical care that violates some religious tenet, is it right that he or she either be denied outright or forced to seek an alternative facility?

   That’s not the right thing to do.

   So I was right all along? C’mon. I want to hear you say it.

6. Appropriate, perfectly suitable; fit for purpose.

   Is this the right software for my computer?

7. Healthy, sane, competent.

   I’m afraid my father is no longer in his right mind.

8. Real; veritable (used emphatically).

   You’ve made a right mess of the kitchen!

   • 2016, Sarah Harvey, A Laugh-out-loud Modern Love Story

     He’s got a wicked sense of fun, he can be a right laugh, he’s ever so broadminded – ooh, and he’s got a lovely broad chest too.

   • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain

     […] in this battle and whole business the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians: no rule, no foresight, no forecast, experience, or estimation

9. (Australia) All right; not requiring assistance.
   • 1986 David Williamson, «What If You Died Tomorrow,» Collected plays, Volume 1, Currency Press, p310

     Kirsty: I suppose you’re hungry. Would you like something to eat?
     Ken: No. I’m right, thanks.

   • 2001 Catherine Menagé, Access to English, National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, NSW: Sydney, p25

     When the sales assistant sees the customer, she asks Are you right, sir? This means Are you all right? She wants to know if he needs any help.

   • 2001 Morris Gleitzman, Two weeks with the Queen, Pan Macmillan Australia, p75

     ‘You lost?’
     Colin spun round. Looking at him was a nurse, her eyebrows raised. / ‘No, I’m right, thanks,’ said Colin.’

10. (dated) Most favourable or convenient; fortunate.
    • c. 1707 Joseph Addison, The Tatler

      The lady has been disappointed on the right side.

11. Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow points to the reader’s right: →

    After the accident, her right leg was slightly shorter than her left.

12. (geography) Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one’s right when facing downstream (i.e. facing forward while floating with the current); that is, the south bank of a river that flows eastward. If this arrow: ⥴ shows the direction of the current, the tilde is on the right side of the river.
13. Designed to be placed or worn outward.

    the right side of a piece of cloth

14. (politics) Pertaining to the political right; conservative.

Synonyms[edit]

• (correctness): correct, just
• (side, direction): dexter, dextral, right-hand
• (politics): conservative, right-wing
• (as a tag question): see Appendix:English tag questions

Antonyms[edit]

• (straightness): bowed, crooked, curved
• (correctness): wrong
• (side, direction): left

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• → Spanish: right
• → Welsh: reit

Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English right, righte, from Old English rihte, rehte (“right; rightly; due; directly; straight”), from Proto-Germanic *rehta, from *rehtaz (“right; straight”).

Adverb[edit]

right (not comparable)

1. On the right side.
2. Towards the right side.
3. Exactly, precisely.

   The arrow landed right in the middle of the target.

   Luckily we arrived right at the start of the film.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients:

     Then there came a reg’lar terror of a sou’wester same as you don’t get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider’ble money getting ’em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

4. Immediately, directly.

   Can’t you see it? It’s right beside you!

   Tom was standing right in front of the TV, blocking everyone’s view.

5. (Britain, US, dialect) Very, extremely, quite.

   I made a right stupid mistake there, didn’t I?

   I stubbed my toe a week ago and it still hurts right much.

   • 1966, Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls‎^[1], page 214:

     That’s long enough for any small town.» Lyon leaned forward. «Do you like Lawrenceville, Mr. Hill?» The driver cocked his head. «Aeah. Why not? Born here. It’s a right nice town

     farm

   • 2004, Jon Sharpe, Nebraska nightmare:

     Well, that would be right neighborly of you, miss.

   • 2008, Luke Cypher, Red Mesa, page 101:

     But it would be right neighborly and Christian of you to put your own wants aside for a spell.

   • 2011, Ann Hite, Ghost on Black Mountain:

     The fog was right hard to see through so I was on Tom Pritchard before I saw him.

   • 2015, Jeff Torrington, Swing Hammer Swing! (page 255)

     Kids nowadays were a right thrillproof bunch. The Armoury Section had, unexpectedly, proved to be a real moodclunker.

6. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really.
7. In a correct manner.

   Do it right or don’t do it at all.

8. (dated, still used in some titles) To a great extent or degree.

   Sir, I am right glad to meet you …

   Members of the Queen’s Privy Council are styled The Right Honourable for life.

   The Right Reverend Monsignor Guido Sarducci.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 13, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients:

     He b’iled right over, and the tongue-lashing he give that boss Right Liver beat anything I ever listened to. There was heap of Scriptur’ language in it, and more brimstone than you’d find in a match factory.

Usage notes[edit]

In the US, the word «right» is used as an adverb meaning «very, quite» in most of the major dialect areas, including the Southern US, Appalachia, New England, and the Midwest, though the usage is not part of standard US English. In the UK also it is not part of the standard language but is regarded as stereotypical of the dialects of northern England, though it occurs in other dialects also.

Quotations[edit]

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:right.

Synonyms[edit]

• (on the right side): rightward, rightwise
• (towards the right side): rightward, rightways
• (exactly, precisely): exactly, just, precisely, smack-dab; see also Thesaurus:exactly
• (immediately, directly): right smack, slap-bang
• (very, extremely): ever so; see also Thesaurus:very
• (according to fact or truth): in point of fact, in truth; see also Thesaurus:actually
• (correct manner): correctly, properly

Derived terms[edit]

• right away
• right here
• right now
• right quick
• right smart

[edit]

• downright
• forthright
• upright

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

right

2. Yes, that is correct; I agree.
   • 2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

     Sam Tyler: Look, look, you know when I said I wasn’t wrong? Well, I was. But I was right about this not being the IRA. I was right to follow my instincts. Like you said, go with your gut feeling. I’m just taking your lead.
     Gene Hunt: So I’m right.
     Sam Tyler: We both are.
     Gene Hunt: Right.
     Sam Tyler: Right.
     Gene Hunt: Just as long as I’m more right than you.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Tell her you’re here.
     Right. Thanks, Pete.

   — United’s the best team in the country.
   — Right. And they’ll go all the way for sure.
   — Damn right they will.

4. I have listened to what you just said and I acknowledge your assertion or opinion, regardless of whether I agree with it (opinion) or can verify it (assertion).
   • 2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

     Sam Tyler: Look, look, you know when I said I wasn’t wrong? Well, I was. But I was right about this not being the IRA. I was right to follow my instincts. Like you said, go with your gut feeling. I’m just taking your lead.
     Gene Hunt: So I’m right.
     Sam Tyler: We both are.
     Gene Hunt: Right.
     Sam Tyler: Right.
     Gene Hunt: Just as long as I’m more right than you.

   — United’s the best team in the country, so they’ll come up with something.
   — Right. And do you think they’ll go all the way?

6. Signpost word to change the subject in a discussion or discourse.

   — After that interview, I don’t think we should hire her.
   — Right. Who wants lunch?

8. Used to check listener engagement and (especially) agreement at the end of an utterance or each segment thereof.

   You’re going, right?

   I went downstairs, right, and I was going to call her, but I found this note, right, so what am I supposed to do now?

9. Used to add seriousness or decisiveness before a statement.
   • 1987, Withnail and I:

     Withnail: Right […] I’m gonna do the washing up.

Usage notes[edit]

The polysemic ambiguity, regarding the senses of (1) affirming agreement and (2) acknowledging an utterance independently of agreement, sometimes functions politely as a social lubricant, avoiding any sarcastic connotation that OK might easily imply; the degree of clarity is sufficient in contexts where getting to the bottom of who agrees or disagrees is superfluous to the purpose of the conversation.

Synonyms[edit]

• (I agree): all right, alright, right on, damn right, damn straight
• (I acknowledge, regardless of agreement): all right, alright, OK, okay, hmm, mmm
• (signpost marking change of subject): all right, alright, well
• (confirming attention, understanding, and/or agreement): all right, alright, y’know, do you know what I’m saying, you know what I’m saying, eh

Derived terms[edit]

• yeah right

Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English right, righte, reght, reghte, riȝt, riȝte, from Old English riht, reht, ġeriht (“that which is right, just, or proper; a right; due; law; canon; rule; direction; justice; equity; standard”), from Proto-West Germanic *reht, from Proto-Germanic *rehtą (“a right”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵt- (“to straighten; direct”). Cognate with Dutch recht (“a right; privilege”), German Recht (“a right”), Danish ret (“a right”).

Noun[edit]

right (plural rights)

1. That which complies with justice, law or reason.

   We’re on the side of right in this contest.

   • 1973 July 22 [July 17, 1973], Chiang, Kai-shek, “President Chiang Kai-shek’s message to the mass rally supporting Captive Nations Week”, in Free China Weekly‎^[2], volume XIV, number 28, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     Throughout our history, whenever evil forces prevailed, the altruistic and upright people have always shown their great wisdom by adhering to the right against the wrong, renouncing wrongful gain for justice, displaying their great benevolence in national salvation and summoning their great courage to surmount the crisis and turn back the perverse tide.

2. A legal, just or moral entitlement.

   You have no right to go through my personal diary.

   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk

     There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

   • 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.

3. The right side or direction.

   The pharmacy is just on the right past the bookshop.

4. The right hand or fist.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, published 1993, page 129:

     «Before he could strike again, however, I got in my right, and he was sprawling on his back on the floor.»

5. The authority to perform, publish, film, or televise a particular work, event, etc.; a copyright.
6. (politics) The ensemble of right-wing political parties; political conservatives as a group.

   The political right holds too much power.

7. The outward or most finished surface, as of a coin, piece of cloth, a carpet, etc.

   Synonym: (of fabric) right side

   • 1890, The Woman’s World, page 434:

     Simple cross-stitch, with a space between each stitch, may be worked in two rows, in which case the completed stitch on the wrong sides alternates with that on the right.

   • 1913, Woman’s Home Companion — Volume 40, page 40:

     For the large size, two pieces of silk, eighteen inches wide and twenty-seven inches long, are sewed together at three sides, rights together, leaving one end open.

   • 1918, Pacific Rural Press — Volume 95, page 392:

     In case there is a right and wrong side to the tops, put two rights together.

8. (surfing) A wave breaking from right to left (viewed from the shore).

   Antonym: left

Synonyms[edit]

• (right side): starboard, 3 o’clock

Antonyms[edit]

• (legal or moral entitlement): duty, obligation

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From Middle English righten, reghten, riȝten, from Old English rihtan, ġerihtan (“to straighten, judge, set upright, set right”), from Proto-West Germanic *rihtijan, from Proto-Germanic *rihtijaną (“to straighten; rectify; judge”).

Verb[edit]

right (third-person singular simple present rights, present participle righting, simple past and past participle righted)

1. (transitive) To correct.

   Righting all the wrongs of the war immediately will be impossible.

2. (transitive) To set upright.

   The tow-truck righted what was left of the automobile.

3. (intransitive) To return to normal upright position.

   When the wind died down, the ship righted.

4. (transitive) To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of.

   to right the oppressed

   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     So just is God, to right the innocent.

   • 1776, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Declaration of Independence

     All experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Derived terms[edit]

• aright
• beright
• eright
• unright

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• right at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “right”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams[edit]

• girth, grith

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• reȝt, riȝte, riȝt, ryȝt, ryght, righte, riht

Etymology[edit]

From Old English riht.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /rixt/, /riːxt/, [ɹiːçt]
• Rhymes: -ixt

Noun[edit]

right (plural rightes)

1. A good deed; a right action.
2. A just or equitable action.
3. A law, ruling, judgement or rule.
4. A right, entitlement or privilege.
5. Truth, correctness.
6. right (direction; as opposed to the left)

Descendants[edit]

• English: right
  • → Spanish: right
  • → Welsh: reit
  • Northumbrian: reet
• Scots: richt
• Yola: reights (plural)

References[edit]

• “right, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.

Adjective[edit]

right (plural and weak singular righte, comparative rightre, superlative rightest)

1. Straight; not crooked or bent.
2. On the or at the right (as opposed to left)
3. Morally or legally correct or justified.
4. Real, genuine, authentic, true.
5. Natural, undisturbed.

[edit]

• rightful

Descendants[edit]

• English: right
  • → Spanish: right
  • → Welsh: reit
• Scots: richt
• Yola: reicht, riaught, ryaught

References[edit]

• “right, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English right fielder.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈrait/ [ˈrai̯t̪]
• Rhymes: -ait

Noun[edit]

right m (plural rights)

1. (baseball) right fielder

Usage notes[edit]

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Reference: https://www.quora.com/When-did-right-come-to-mean-correct

Quote

Since before it entered the English language. The OED cites an Old English example circa 900, from Aelfric’s Catholic Homilies: “Þa beoð healte ðe rihtne gang.” (Roughly, “Then be healthy and go correctly”. [Not an OE speaker; could use an improved translation.])

It dates back to proto-Germanic, meaning “in a straight line”, which is easily treated as a metaphor for “correct”. The word has similar uses in other Germanic languages (e.g. Old Norse rétt). In fact, it goes all the way back to Proto Indo European, and also gives us the word “rectus” in Latin, and for that matter “correct”.

So basically… as far back as the word “right” existed, it has meant “correct”.

Where Do the Political Terms Left and Right Come from?

The modern usage of the political terms left and right comes from the French Revolution of 1789 when supporters of the king stood to the president’s right, and supporters of the revolution to his left.

This split between liberty and authority and split between individualism and collectivism AKA “social equality and inequality” (or more generally between liberalism and conservatism; AKA “left” and “right”) has defined the political left and right since its first usage in the French press of the time.^[1][2][3]

A simple way to see this is in terms of classical government types: The French Revolutionaries wanted a more liberal democracy (where both liberalism and democracy are the ideologies of liberty and equality) and that the aristocracy wanted a more aristocratic form of Monarchy (the ideology of hierarchies, order and authority). So those who want Democracy, Liberalism, Equality, and Liberty are “to the political left” of those who want Monarchy, Conservatism, Authority (Illiberality), Hierarchy (Inequality), Tradition, and Order.

Today, the terms left and right still hold their original meaning, where the King is to the right of his aristocrats, who are to the right of the upper-class, who are to the right of the commoners; and where erring toward the liberty and right of the many is left, and where erring toward the authority of “the few” is right.

The right-wing wanted to the traditional order and hierarchy, the left wanted liberty, equality, and a Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. The left got feisty and started rioting, the right came in with an army. Then eventually we get the liberal left-right emperor Napoleon arose… and thus the story also offers an immediate out-the-gate lesson on why the answer is balance, not EXTREMES.

Although the terms aren’t always used consistently in practice, their core meaning has never changed. Monarchy and Democracy, Conservatism and Liberalism, Left and Right, Tories and Whigs, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Populists and Elitists, and more all very generally speak to the same thing: a naturally occurring (in my opinion) aspect of the human condition manifesting as political dichotomies. See an essay on left-right spectrums.

This is to say, The citizens who wanted democracy, individual liberty, and social equality stood to the left <—— of the President ——> and, the supporters of the Aristocracy, Monarchy, and King (“the few”) who wanted order, tradition, social hierarchy, and authority stood to the right.

The above “left-right paradigm” doubles as a basic 2 point political spectrum. To simplify things:LEFT, LIBERAL, and DEMOCRACY is toward liberty and equality and RIGHT, CONSERVATIVE, and MONARCHY is toward order, tradition, social hierarchy, and authority (this is the basic original two-way split, in practice we want to consider liberty and equality separately rather than together because the social and classical forms of liberalism and conservatism are so different in-action).

TIP: Leftism, like liberalism in general, can be seen as a pushback against the pyramid shaped social order seen in the “estates” of France of the time.

TIP: See Left and Right: The Great Dichotomy Revisited  for a more complete telling of the significance of the terms left and right. The opening chapter of the book describes the French origins of the terms in vital detail.

The Political Terms Left and Right Can be Understood by Looking at Liberal Revolutions

The division between the left and right during the English, American, and French Revolutions tell us everything we need to know about the political left-wing and political right-wing as absolute and comparative terms. We can then apply this logic to any place and time to understand any unique political atmosphere in terms of left and right (for instance we can apply it to all historical and modern parties).

Below we will explore how to understand the political left and right in historical context.

TIP: We can look to Athens and Rome (or even earlier to Egypt) and find the origins of left-right ideology, but modern usage of the terms comes from the French Revolution of 1789; a liberal revolution of the people (the left). See a history of human rights for more discussion on liberalism since Athens.

Aren’t the Terms Left and Right Subjective? While there is some room for subjectivity, when we consider history, the terms left and right are fairly objective and leave little room for debate as they accurately describe the origins of political factions in modern governments. The confusion comes from the fact that in reality politics are complex, and it takes a good deal of authority (right) to ensure social justice for the collective (left). Likewise, one might consider the freedom to own slaves as left, but the actual act of owning slaves (thus inhibiting the liberty of others) is very far-right. There are countless examples like this.

The French Revolution: Crash Course World History #29.

TIP: For more reading see the birth of liberalism and the Age of Enlightenment or how to understand the political left-right spectrum.

What Do Left-wing and Right-wing Mean? – The Political Left and Right as Comparative and Absolute Terms

The simplest answer to “what do left and right mean?” historically speaking, is liberal is left (toward liberty and/or collectivism) and conservative is right (toward authority and/or individualism).

• As a comparative term left is always toward liberalism and liberty, and right is always toward conservatism and authority (from any given perspective).
• As an absolute term left means to the left of center (toward liberalism and liberty), and right means to the right of center (toward conservatism and authority).

Likewise

• As a comparative term left is always toward liberalism and equality, and right is always toward conservatism and inequality (from any given perspective).
• As an absolute term left means to the left of center (toward liberalism and equality), and right means to the right of center (toward conservatism and inequality).

Comparing those liberty and equality paradigms at once adds complexity, but shows the two qualities that the democratically minded left-of-the-King in France were demanding (as we can confirm by their Rights of Man and Citizen more than their Jacobin Revolution… the Jacobin Revolution speaks more to Plato’s Democracy leading to Tyranny than the core of left-right).

TIP: In other words, the Jacobin mob didn’t just want “liberty”, they also wanted “equality”. They wanted “Democracy” (the ideology of liberty and equality, as defined by Plato in 360 BC).

With the above in mind, a democratic form of government will always be to the left, and a form of monarchy will always be to the right.

If a democratic government acts as an authoritative tyrant (an “angry mob”, say a headless Jacobin mob) that behavior is right-wing (despite the left-wing ideals of the mob), if the monarch acts like a liberal monarch, as we can say Napoleon or the Enlightened Monarchs did, then that behavior can be labeled left-wing despite the right-wing authoritarian aspects.

Or rather, in both cases their ideologies are mixed left-right in practice.

This means a single entity can span a spectrum of left-right briefs and behaviors, but can always be described as being to the left or right of another entity.

Thus, the terms left and right have historical and modern practical uses as they can be used to quickly describe how liberal or conservative a given party, ideology, action, or person is.

TIP: See more discussions on left-right politics and the meaning of left and right.

Enlightened Absolutism (Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Joseph II). What does a right-wing leftist (or left-wing right-winger) look like? Just ask Napoleon, the Jacobins, or Frederick the Great… or, let Tom Richey tell you about them rather.

The Story of the French Revolution and the Political Left and Right

The political “left” and “right” were first used during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king to the president’s right and supporters of the revolution to his left.

One deputy, the Baron de Gauville, explained, “We began to recognize each other: those who were loyal to religion and the king took up positions to the right of the chair so as to avoid the shouts, oaths, and indecencies that enjoyed free rein in the opposing camp.” However, the Right opposed the seating arrangement because they believed that deputies should support private or general interests, but should not form factions or political parties. The contemporary press occasionally used the terms “left” and “right” to describe the opposing sides.^[4]

This is notable, as shortly after the left completely took over France via revolution. We then see the rise of two notable far-left groups. The Girondins (including the sometimes American Thomas Paine) were intellectuals that, despite being far-left, were to the right of the “common men of action,” the more radical-left Jacobins.^[5][6]

The Jacobins and Girondins initially teamed up to take out the right-wing (i.e. supporters of the monarchy), but by the start of the Jacobin Reign of Terror, things were sour. The far-left Jacobin Reign of Terror was spurred on by the assassination of the Jacobin political writer Jean-Paul Marat. This event snowballed. The Jacobins, led by Robespierre, feared retribution from the more right-wing groups including the Girondins. Some 25,000 – 40,000 French were killed in the reign of terror, mostly by beheading at the guillotine. The exact numbers appear to be 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris alone) and about 25,000 summary executions across France. The Jacobins kept accurate records as they always attempted to follow the law in their terror, so the guillotine numbers are probably fairly accurate.^[7][8][9]

In this period if you weren’t far-left you were a traitor and were up against the Revolutionary Tribunal. Those executed included the early executions we all know from histories like Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (who were right-wing monarchs), but also say those who believed in revolution but supported religion, those who spoke out against the far-left, or those who did or said anything the Committee of Public Safety disapproved of. Oddly, the Jacobins always followed the law and championed liberalism and enlightenment, so despite the far-right authoritative beheading and lynch mob aspect; they remained a far-left group in many respects.

This story is important, as it not only displays an important time in political history, it also explains the roots of the political left and right, and clearly shows that those terms will always be able to be applied in a comparative and absolute sort of way.

In sum, the Jacobins and Girondins were both far-left revolutionary factions. The main story of the revolution from about 1791 – July 1794, when the also left Thermidorian Reaction puts an end to Robespierre and the Jacobin Club, is a story of different degrees of right-wing behavior by the left. Thus, from the outset, we see we can use the terms left and right accurately, but the complexity of politics and human behavior often requires us to apply the terms in some comparative and absolute terms per entity or ideology.

REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution, Part III

A Populist Rebellion and the execution of Peasants: Among people who were condemned by the revolutionary tribunals, about 8% were aristocrats, 6% clergy, 14% middle class, and 72% were workers or peasants accused of hoarding, evading the draft, desertion, or rebellion. Maximilien Robespierre, “frustrated with the progress of the revolution,” saw politics through a populist lens because “any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil.” – The French Revolution by David E.A. Coles (Amazon) p. 110 (see on Google Books). The passage also discusses the theory that the rebellion was secretly controlled by political and economic elites (hence what with all the leftist and peasant killing, but this line of thinking is often debunked and is another conversation, either way the story has much the same morals).

The Terms Left and Right Applied to England and America

Since the terms left and right began during the French Revolution, and since that Revolution came after the American Revolution 1765 – 1783, and long after the English Revolution of 1642 – 1651, and ended with the Glorious Revolution in 1688, we won’t dwell much on England and America.

In England: The Tories are the right-wing conservative party who traditionally favor monarchy and aristocracy. The Whigs are the left-wing liberal party who traditionally favor liberty, parliament power, free trade, and the principles of enlightenment. The split in England is best felt first with the Petition of Rights and the English Civil War (AKA Revolution… unless you are from Scotland or Ireland) under Oliver Cromwell (a very right-wing liberal revolution), but the terms left and right aren’t used at this time. Later “the radical Whigs” will rebel against Burke’s old Whigs and formed a party that was farther left in England, which became Britain, or the United Kingdom, after being unified by Cromwell’s force.^[10][11]

Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War.

In America: America didn’t have their revolution until over 100 years after England started its revolution. In fact, America had its revolution right before France did. This means America was able to pick and choose aspects of order and revolution from France and England. We cite Montesquieu’s separations of power via Madison, and also free trade Whig-like right-wing leftism under Hamilton and Washington. Jefferson and Paine talked about the right to revolt with force like the French and harkened back to Locke. America, in the end, created a representative Democracy (Republic) like England’s and not a Pure Democracy which is more “left.”

Oddly, America’s first two factions, the Anti-Federalists, and Federalists, were both left-right in absolute terms. Anti-federalists like Jefferson were what today we would consider intellectuals in the Southern bloc of small government and small business. Issues of religion and slavery had no great importance yet. Federalists would be the equivalent of New York neo-liberals, leaning left on trade and social issues and to the right economic issues and authority. They wanted a central bank, shared debt, and more federal power. The anti-Federalists were like the French, and the Federalists were like the English Whigs. We find complex comparative and absolute usage of the terms left and right from the start. If we compare both parties to King George and the Tories, both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists are left-leaning, and George is right-leaning. This is why we say the American Revolution was a liberal revolution.^[12]

Federalists vs Anti-Federalists in Five Minutes.

FACT: The friends-with-everyone-from-Adam-Smith-to-Thomas-Paine Benjamin Franklin, the pro-French-revolution Thomas Jefferson, and anti-Burke Thomas Paine all helped spur on the French Revolution (and the American one, and almost another English one). Specifically, Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) and Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man (1791) are both notable in respect to influencing political culture.

Two political Sects have arisen within the U. S. the one believing that the executive is the branch of our government which the most needs support; the other that like the analogous branch in the English Government, it is already too strong for the republican parts of the Constitution; and therefore in equivocal cases they incline to the legislative powers: the former of these are called federalists, sometimes aristocrats or monocrats, and sometimes tories, after the corresponding sect in the English Government of exactly the same definition: the latter are stiled republicans, whigs, jacobins, anarchists, disorganizers, etc. these terms are in familiar use with most persons. – letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Wise in Francis N. Thorpe, ed “A Letter from Jefferson on the Political Parties, 1798,” (source)

In Greek (as I posted 11 years ago), the adverb «δεξιά» [ðe̞.k͡s̠i.ˈa] —> rightwards, adj. «δεξιός, -ά, -ό» [ðe̞.k͡s̠i.ˈo̞s̠] (masc.), [ðe̞.k͡s̠i.ˈa] (fem.), [ðe̞.k͡s̠i.ˈo̞] (neut.) —> right (wing/hand/side) < Classical adjective «δεξιός» dĕksiós —> (to the) right (side) may be cognate with the deponent verb «δέχομαι» [ˈðe̞.xo̞.me̞] —> to accept, receive, allow < Classical deponent v. «δέχομαι» dékʰŏmai —> to take, accept, with Aorist II stem «δεξ-» dĕks- which is logical as we (right-handed people, the majority) take something offered usually into our right hand (PIE *deḱs(i)- < *deḱs- right which gave the archaic *δεξιϝός *dĕksiwós hence identical with the Gaulish *deksiu(o)- on the right, in the south, favourable > Gaulish goddess Dexsiua (Dea); Proto-Germanic *tehswô, right > Ger. zese; Skt. दक्षिण (dakṣiṇa), right, southern).

In Classical Greek, left is «σκαιός, -ά, -όν» skaiós (masc.), skaiā́ (fem.), skaión (neut.) with cognates the Sanskrit छाया (chāyā), shade, reflection, Latin scævus, from PIE *skeh₂-i-uo- left, inauspicious. According to Beekes:

Robert Beekes said:

The semantic development may have been ‘shaded’ > ‘western’, and when referring to hands, ‘shaded hand’ > ‘improper hand = left hand’

The ancient Greeks replaced the unfavourable «σκαιός» with the euphemism «ἀριστερός, -ρά, -ρόν» ărĭstĕrós (masc.), ărĭstĕrā́ (fem.), ărĭstĕrón (neut.) < Classical adj. «ἄριστος» ắrĭstos —> the best, first, noblest, superlative of the deverbative comparative adj. «ἀρείων» ăreíōn —> better, stronger, nobler (the suppletive comparative of the adjective «ἀγαθός» ăgătʰós —> good, brave, noble, moral, gentle) < Classical Gr. v. «ἀραρίσκω» ărărískō —> to fit together, construct, equip (PIE *h₂er- to fit cf. Hitt. āra-, proper, arā-, friend, Lyc. ara-, rite, Skt. ऋतु (ṛtu), order, Av. arəm, fitting).
From this, the MoGr name for left, derives: «Aριστερός, -ρή, ρό» [a.ɾis̠.t̠e̞ˈɾo̞s̠] (masc.), [a.ɾis̠.t̠e̞ˈɾi] (fem.), [a.ɾis̠.t̠e̞ˈɾo̞] (neut.).

The ancients however, used another euphemism which replaced «ἀριστερός» in every-day usage, the adj. «εὐώνυμος, -μον» euṓnŭmŏs (masc. & fem.), euṓnŭmŏn (neut.) —> of good name = adv. «εὖ» eû + neuter noun «ὄνομα» ónŏmă

So, the ancient Greeks used a euphemism of a euphemism for left.

In ancient Greek poetry, the preferred name is «λαιός, -ά, -όν» laiós (masc.), laiā́ (fem.), laión (neut.) with cognates the Lat. lævus, Proto-Slavic *lěvъ, from PIE *leh₂-i-uo- left.