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Definition of prerogative - 3 dictionary results

pre⋅rog⋅a⋅tive

  [pri-rog-uh-tiv, puh-rog-]
Use prerogative in a Sentence
–noun
1. an exclusive right, privilege, etc., exercised by virtue of rank, office, or the like: the prerogatives of a senator.
2. a right, privilege, etc., limited to a specific person or to persons of a particular category: It was the teacher's prerogative to stop the discussion.
3. a power, immunity, or the like restricted to a sovereign government or its representative: The royal prerogative exempts the king from taxation.
4. Obsolete. precedence.
–adjective
5. having or exercising a prerogative.
6. pertaining to, characteristic of, or existing by virtue of a prerogative.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L praerogātīvus (adj.) voting first, praerogātīva (n. use of fem. of adj.) tribe or century with right to vote first. See pre-, interrogative

Synonyms:
1. See privilege.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pre·rog·a·tive   (prĭ-rŏg'ə-tĭv)   
n.  

  1. An exclusive right or privilege held by a person or group, especially a hereditary or official right. See Synonyms at right.

  2. The exclusive right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge: the principal's prerogative to suspend a student.

  3. A special quality that confers superiority.

adj.  Of, arising from, or exercising a prerogative.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin praerogātīva, feminine of praerogātīvus, asked first, from praerogātus, past participle of praerogāre, to ask before : prae-, pre- + rogāre, to ask; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
pre·rog'a·tived adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

prerogative 
1387 (in Anglo-L. from 1293), from O.Fr. prerogative (14c.), M.L. prerogativa "special right," from L. prærogativa "prerogative, previous choice or election," originally (with tribus, centuria) "unit of 100 voters who by lot voted first in the Roman comita," prop. fem. of prærogativus (adj.) "chosen to vote first," from prærogere "ask before others," from præ- "before" + rogare "to ask" (see rogation).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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