righteousness 
between active and passim righteottsness, the fonuer con- 
sisting in what is right because it is right, the latter in 
accepting for Christ's sake by faith the free gift of right- 
eousness as defined in the second definition above. 
Original righteousness.in scholastic theol., the condition 
of man as made in the image of God before the fall. 
Proselytes of righteousness. See proselyte. The 
righteousness of God (Rom. i. 17), a phrase defined an- 
tagonistically by Biblical interpreters as " Righteousness 
which proceeds from God, the relation of being right into 
which man is put by God that is, by an act of God de- 
claring him righteous " (Meyer), and as " The attribute of 
God, embodied in Christ, manifested in the world, revealed 
in the Gospel, communicated to the individual soul, the 
righteousness not of the law, but of faith " (Jowelt). The 
former is the general Protestant view; the latter comes 
near the view of the Roman Catholic Church, Greek 
Church, etc. The one regards righteousness as indicating 
a relation, the other as descriptive of character ; the one 
as something bestowed by God and imputed to man, the 
other as something inherent in God and spiritually com- 
municated to man. = Syn. 1. See righteous. 
Tighter (ri'ter), . [< AS. rihtere, a ruler, di- 
rector, = OFries. riuchtere, riuchter = D. regter 
= MLG. riehter = OHG. rihtari, MHG. rihtsere, 
G. richter, ruler, judge, = Icel. rettari, a justi- 
ciary; as right, v.,+ -eel.] One who sets right; 
one who adjusts or redresses that which is 
wrong. 
I will pay thee what I owe thee, as that lighter of 
wrongs hath left me commanded. 
Shdton, tr. of Don Quixote, i. 4. (Latham.) 
rightful (rit'ful), ii. [< ME. rightful, rigtful, 
rygtfol, restful; < right, n., + -ful.~\ If. Right- 
eous; upright; just and good. 
The laborer schulde truly traueile than, 
And be fistful bothe in worde & deede. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. S8. 
Were now the bowe bent in swich maneere 
As it was first, of justice and of ire, 
The rightful God nolde of no mercy heere. 
Chaucer, A. B. C., 1. 31. 
8. Just; consonant to justice: as, a rightful 
cause ; a rightful war. 
My bloody judge forbade my tongue to speak ; 
No rightful plea might plead for justice there. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1649. 
3. Having the right or just claim according 
to established laws: as, the rightful heir to a 
throne or an estate. 
Some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black, 
For the deposing of a rightful king. 
Shale., Rich. II., v. 1. 50. 
The legitimate and rightful lord 
Is but a transient guest, newly arriv'd, 
As soon to be supplanted. Cou>per, Task, iii. 749. 
4. Being or belonging by right or just claim : 
as, one's rightful property. 
Wink at our advent : help my prince to gain 
His rightful bride. Tennyson, Princess, iii. 
8. Proper; suitable; appropriate. 
The hand and foot that stir not, they shall find 
Sooner than all the rightful place to go. 
Jones Very, Poems, p. 42. 
=Syn. 2-4. Just, Upright, etc. (see righteous), true, law- 
ful, proper. 
rightfully (rit'ful-i), adv. [< ME. ryghtefully; 
< rightful + -Iy 2 .~\ If. In a righteous manner; 
righteously. 
Whate are all thi werkes worthe, whethire thay be body- 
ly or gastely, hot if thay be done ryghtefully and reson- 
ably, to the wirchipp of Godde, and at His byddynges 1 
Hampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 27. 
2. In a rightful manner; according to right, 
law, or justice; legitimately: as, a title right- 
fully vested. 
Plain and right must my possession be : 
Which I with more than with a common pain 
'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 5. 225. 
3. Properly; fittingly. 
Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and right- 
fully on the shelves of every cottage. 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 112. 
rightfulness (rit'ful-nes), . [< ME. rigtful- 
nesse, rigtfuhies, rigtvolnesse : see rightful and 
-ness.~\ If. Righteousness. 
Ouerweninge . . . maketh tomochespredethe merciof 
oure Ihorde, and litel prayzeth his ri^tuolnesse. 
Ayenbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 29. 
But still, although we fail of perfect rightfulness, 
Seek we to tame these superfluities, 
Nor wholly wink though void of purest sijthtfulness. 
Sir P. Sidney. 
2. The character or state of being rightful ; jus- 
tice ; accordance with the rules of right : as, the 
rightfulness of a claim to lands or tenements, 
right-hand (rit'hand), a. [< ME. rughte-hande, 
CAS. riht-hand, ryht-hand, the right hand, < riht, 
right, + hand, hand : see right, a., and hand, .] 
1. Belonging or adapted to the right hand. 
The right-hand glove must always be worn when prac- 
ticing throwing [in base-ball], in order that this also shall 
offer no unusual difficulty in the later work. 
St. Nicholas, XVII. 828. 
5180 
2. Situated on the right hand, or iu a direction 
from the right side; leading to the right: as, a 
right-hand road. 
Sir Jeoffrey Notch, who Is the oldest of the club, has 
been in possession of the right-hand chair time out of 
mind. Steele, Tatler, No. 132. 
3. Serving as a right hand ; hence, foremost in 
usefulness; of greatest service as an assistant. 
wha has slain my right-hand man, 
That held my hawk and hound? 
Earl Richard (Child's Ballads, III. 8). 
Right-hand file*, patricians ; aristocrats. 
Do you two know how you are censured here in the city, 
I mean of iu o' the right-hand file ? Shak., Cor., ii. 1. 26. 
Right-hand rope. See ropei . 
right-handed (rit'han'ded). a. 1. Using the 
right hand more easily and readily than the 
left. See dexterous. 
A left-handed pitcher [in base-ball] is able to make 
much more of what to a right-handed batsman is an in- 
curve, . . . while ita opposite, or the out-curve to a right- 
handed batsman, ia correspondingly weak. 
St. Nicholas, XVII. 827. 
2. Turning so as to pass from above or in front 
to the right hand ; clockwise : thus, an ordinary 
screw is driven in by a right-handed rotation; 
specifically, in conch., dextral, as the spiral 
shell of a univalve (see cut under purpura). The 
rotation of the plane of polarization by certain substances 
showing circular polarization is called right-handed when, 
to an observer looking in the direction in which the ray 
is moving, the rotation is clockwise that is, in the same 
direction as that of the hands of a clock ; if in the oppo- 
site direction (counter-clockwise), the rotation is called 
left-handed. These terms are also applied to the sub- 
stances themselves which produce these effects: as, a 
right-handed quartz-crystal. 
3. In bot., of twining plants or circummi- 
tating parts, properly, rising or advancing in 
the direction of a right-handed screw or spiral, 
or that of the hands of a watch. Certain authors, 
neglecting the notion of forward growth and conceiving 
the plant as viewed from above, have used the term in 
the opposite sense, which is quite unnatural. 
4. Laid from left to right, as the strands of a 
rope. 5. Executed by the right hand. 
The Slogger waits for the attack, and hopes to finish it 
by some heavy right-handed blow. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 5. 
6. On the right side; of a favorable, conve- 
nient, or easily pardoned character. 
St. Paul tells us of divisions and factions and "schisms " 
that were in the Church of Corinth; yet these were not 
about the essentials of religion, but about a right-handed 
error, even too much admiration of their pastors. 
Abp. Bramhall, Works, II. 28. 
right-handedness (rit'han"ded-nes), n. The 
state or property of being right-handed ; hence, 
skill ; dexterity. Imp. Diet. 
right-hander (rit'han'der), . 1. One who is 
right-handed; one who uses the right hand 
more skilfully than the left. 
There are, however, some right-handers (if this useful 
abbreviative term may be allowed) who, if they try to 
write with their left hands, instinctively produce Spiegel- 
Schrift. Proc. Soc. Ptych. Research, III. 42. 
2. A blow with the right hand. [Colloq.] 
Tom gets out-and-out the worst of it, and is at last hit 
clean off his legs, and deposited on the grass by a right- 
hander from the Slogger. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 5. 
right-hearted (rit'har'ted), a. [<right + heart 
+ -ed%. Cf . AS. riht-heort, reht-heort = OHG. 
reht-herze, upright in heart : see right and 
heart.~\ Having a right heart or disposition. 
Imp. Diet. 
rightlechet, v. t. [ME. rigtlechen, rygtloken; < 
AS. rihtlsecan, make right, correct, < riht, right, 
+ -Isecan, ME. -Uehen, as in cnawlechen, later 
E. knowledge, q. v.] To set right; direct. 
The! sente with hem sondes to saxoyne that time. 
And nomen omage in his name nougt forto layne, 
Forto rigtleche that reaume real of riche & of pore. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1310. 
rightless (rifles), a. [< right + -less.] Desti- 
tute of rights ; without right. 
Whoso enters (Right-lea) 
By Force, is forced to go out with shame. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Captaines. 
Thou art liable to the Ban of the Empire hast deserved 
to be declared outlawed and fugitive, landless and right- 
less. Scott, Quentin Durward, xxii. 
rightly (rit'li), adv. [< ME. "rightly, rigtli, riht- 
liche, < AS. rihtlice, rightly, justly, < rihtlie, 
right, just, < riht, right, + -lie, E. -ly^: see 
right and -Z# 2 .] If. In a straight or right line ; 
directly. 
Like perspectives which rightly gazed upon 
Show nothing but confusion, eyed awry 
Distinguish form. Shak., Rich. II., ii. 2. ia 
2. According to justice, duty, or the divine 
will; uprightly: honestly; viituously. 
rigid 
Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly. 
Luke xx. 21. 
3. Properly; fitly; suitably: as, apersou rightly 
named. 
Descend from heaven, Urania, by that name 
If rightly thou art call'd. Milton, P. L., vU. 2. 
4. According to truth or fact; not erroneously ; 
correctly: as, he has rightly conjectured. 
He it was that might rightly say Veni, vidi, viei. 
Shalt., L. L. L., iv. 1. 68. 
No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows 
that every day is Doomsday. 
Emerson, Society and Solitude. 
right-minded (rit'mm'ded), a. Having a right 
mind; well or properly disposed, 
right-mindedness (iit'inin"ded-nes), . The 
state of being right-minded. 
While Lady Elliot lived, there had been method, modera- 
tion, and economy, . . . but with her had died all such 
right-mindedness. Jane Austen, Persuasion, i. 
rightness (rit'nes), . [ < ME. rigtnesee, < AS. 
rilitiiess (= OS. rehtnussi = OHG. rehtnissa), < 
riht, right: see right and -HCSS.] 1. The state 
or character of being right, (a) Straightness ; di- 
rectness : as, the riyhtness of a line. 
They (sounds] move strongest in a right line : which 
nevertheless is not caused by the rightness of the line, but 
by the shortness of the distance. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 201. 
(6) Conformity with the laws regulating conduct ; upright- 
ness; rectitude; righteousness. 
RysWnesse zayth, Lybbe we sobreliche, ryuollyche, an 
bonayrelyche. Aymbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 265. 
Rightness expresses of actions what straightness does of 
lines ; and there can no more be two kinds of right action 
than there can be two kinds of straight line. 
11. Spencer, Social Statics (ed. 1884), xxxil. 4. 
(c) Propriety ; appropriateness ; flttingness. 
Sir Hugo's watch-chain and seals, his handwriting, his 
mode of smoking, . . . had all a rightness and charm about 
them to the boy. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, xvi. 
(d) Correctness ; truth : as, the rightness of a conjecture. 
2. The state or attribute of being on the right 
hand; hence, in psycho!., the sensation or per- 
ception of such a position or attribute. 
Rightnets and leftness, upness and downness, are again 
pure sensations, differing specifically from each other, 
and generically from everything else. 
W. James, in Mind, XII. 14. 
rightst (rits), adv. [< ME. rightes, rigtes, adv. 
gen. of right, .] Right; rightly; properly. 
Alle anon rijtes there omage him dede. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 130(5. 
rightward (rit'ward), adv. [< right + -ward.'] 
To or on the right hand. [Rare.] 
Rightviard and leftward rise the rocks, 
And now they meet across the vale. Southey. 
right-Whaler (rit'hwa"ler), n. One who pur- 
sues the right whale. Also right-whaleman. 
light-whaling (iit'hwa"ling), n. The practice, 
method, or industry of capturing the right 
whale : opposed to sperm-whaling. 
rightwiset (rit'wiz), a. and e. Same as righteous. 
rightwiselyt (rit'wiz'li), adv. Same as right- 
eously. 
rightwisenesst (rit'wiz'nes), n. Same as right- 
eousness. 
rigid (rij'id), a. [= F. rigide, vernacularly 
roide, raide (> ME. raid) = Pr. rege, rede, rot 
= Sp. rigido = Pg. It. rigido, < L. rigidwt, stiff, 
< rigcre, be stiff; prob. orig. 'be straight'; cf. 
rectus, straight, < regere, taken in sense of 
'stretch': see regen t and right. Cf. rigor.] 1. 
Stiff; not pliant or easily bent; not plastic or 
easily molded ; resisting any change of font) 
when acted upon by force; hard. 
The earth as a whole is much more rigid than any of 
the rocks that constitute its upper crust. 
Thomson and Tail, Nat. Phil., 832. 
2. Not easily driven back or thrust out of place ; 
unyielding; firm. 
Bristled with upright beams innumerable 
Of rigid, spears. Milton, P. L., vi. 83. 
3. Not easily wrought upon or affected; inflexi- 
ble; hence, harsh; severe; rigorous; rigorous- 
ly framed or executed: as, a rigid sentence; 
rigid criticism. 
Witness also his Harshness to our Ambassadors, and 
the rigid Terms he would have tied the Prince Palsgrave 
to. Howell, Letters, I. vl. 6. 
Thy mandate rigid as the will of Fate. 
Brijant, Death of Slavery. 
The absurdities of official routine, rigid where it need 
not be and lax where it should be rigid, occasionally be- 
come glaring enough to cause scandals. 
H. Spencer, Man vs. State, p. 57. 
4. Strict in opinion, conduct, discipline, or ob- 
servance ; uncompromising; scrupulously exact 
or exacting: as, a rigid disciplinarian ; a, rigid 
Calvinist. 
