birth·right

[burth-rahyt]
noun
any right or privilege to which a person is entitled by birth: Democracy maintains that freedom is a birthright.

Origin:
1525–35; birth + right

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
birthright (ˈbɜːθˌraɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  privileges or possessions that a person has or is believed to be entitled to as soon as he is born
2.  the privileges or possessions of a first-born son
3.  inheritance; patrimony

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Birthright is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

birthright
1530s, from birth + right. Used as an adj. from 1650s, especially by Quakers.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Birthright definition


(1.) This word denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to him. That honour was, however, transferred by God from Reuben to Levi (Num. 3:12, 13; 8:18). (2.) The first-born son had allotted to him also a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:15-17). Reuben was, because of his undutiful conduct, deprived of his birth-right (Gen. 49:4; 1 Chr. 5:1). Esau transferred his birth-right to Jacob (Gen. 25:33). (3.) The first-born inherited the judicial authority of his father, whatever it might be (2 Chr. 21:3). By divine appointment, however, David excluded Adonijah in favour of Solomon. (4.) The Jews attached a sacred importance to the rank of "first-born" and "first-begotten" as applied to the Messiah (Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18; Heb. 1:4-6). As first-born he has an inheritance superior to his brethren, and is the alone true priest.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences
He had reckoned from childhood on outlawry as his peculiar birthright.
Matt, the trustee of this precious birthright, is in charge of selling it off
  to developers.
We seem to regard seven to eight hours of unbroken sleep as our birthright.
We view the ability to eat any food at any time of year, irrespective of its
  natural season, almost as a birthright.
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