privilege definition | Dictionary.com

priv⋅i⋅lege

[priv-uh-lij, priv-lij]

noun, verb, -leged, -leg⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most: the privileges of the very rich.

2.	a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities: the privilege of a senator to speak in Congress without danger of a libel suit.

3.	a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.

4.	the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.

5.	any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government: We enjoy the privileges of a free people.

6.	an advantage or source of pleasure granted to a person: It's my privilege to be here.

7.	Stock Exchange. an option to buy or sell stock at a stipulated price for a limited period of time, including puts, calls, spreads, and straddles.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to grant a privilege to.

9.	to exempt (usually fol. by from).

10.	to authorize or license (something otherwise forbidden).

Origin:
1125–75; (n.) ME; earlier privilegie (< OF privilege) < L prīvilēgium orig., a law for or against an individual, equiv. to prīvi- (comb. form of prīvus one's own) + lēg- (see legal ) + -ium -ium; (v.) ME privilegen (< MF privilegier) < ML prīvilēgiāre, deriv. of prīvilēgium

Related forms:

priv⋅i⋅leg⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. Privilege, prerogative refer to a special advantage or right possessed by an individual or group. A privilege is a right or advantage gained by birth, social position, effort, or concession. It can have either legal or personal sanction: the privilege of paying half fare; the privilege of calling whenever one wishes. Prerogative refers to an exclusive right claimed and granted, often officially or legally, on the basis of social status, heritage, sex, etc.: the prerogatives of a king; the prerogatives of management. 4. license, freedom, liberty.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To privilege

priv·i·lege (prĭv'ə-lĭj, prĭv'lĭj)

1. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right.
2. Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.
3. Protection from being forced to disclose confidential communications in certain relationships, as between attorney and client, physician and patient, or priest and confessor.
4. Protection from being sued for libel or slander for making otherwise actionable statements in a context or forum where open and candid expression is deemed desirable for reasons of public policy.
The principle of granting and maintaining a special right or immunity: a society based on privilege.
1. Protection from being forced to disclose confidential communications in certain relationships, as between attorney and client, physician and patient, or priest and confessor.
2. Protection from being sued for libel or slander for making otherwise actionable statements in a context or forum where open and candid expression is deemed desirable for reasons of public policy.
An option to buy or sell a stock, including put, call, spread, and straddle.

tr.v. priv·i·leged, priv·i·leg·ing, priv·i·leg·es

To grant a privilege to.
To free or exempt.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prīvilēgium, a law affecting one person : prīvus, single, alone; see per¹ in Indo-European roots + lēx, lēg-, law; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]

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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Privilege

Priv"i*lege\, n. [F. privil[`e]ge, L. privilegium an ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual; privus private + lex, legis, law. See Private, and Legal.]

1. A peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity not enjoyed by others or by all; special enjoyment of a good, or exemption from an evil or burden; a prerogative; advantage; franchise.

He pleads the legal privilege of a Roman. --Kettlewell.

The privilege birthright was a double portion. --Locke.

A people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties. --Burke.

2. (Stockbroker's Cant) See Call, Put, Spread, etc.

Breach of privilege. See under Breach.

Question of privilege (Parliamentary practice), a question which concerns the security of a member of a legislative body in his special privileges as such.

Water privilege, the advantage of having machinery driven by a stream, or a place affording such advantage. [ U. S.]

Writ of privilege (Law), a writ to deliver a privileged person from custody when arrested in a civil suit. --Blackstone.

Syn: Prerogative; immunity; franchise; right; claim; liberty.

Usage: Privilege, Prerogative. Privilege, among the Romans, was something conferred upon an individual by a private law; and hence, it denotes some peculiar benefit or advantage, some right or immunity, not enjoyed by the world at large. Prerogative, among the Romans, was the right of voting first; and, hence, it denotes a right of precedence, or of doing certain acts, or enjoying certain privileges, to the exclusion of others. It is the privilege of a member of Congress not to be called in question elsewhere for words uttered in debate. It is the prerogative of the president to nominate judges and executive officers. It is the privilege of a Christian child to be instructed in the true religion. It is the prerogative of a parent to govern and direct his children.

Privilege

Priv"i*lege\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Privileged; p. pr. & vb. n. Privileging.] [Cf. F. privil['e]gier.]

1. To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize; as, to privilege representatives from arrest.

To privilege dishonor in thy name. --Shak.

2. To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver.

He took this place for sanctuary, And it shall privilege him from your hands. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : privilege

Spanish: privilegio,

German: das Privileg,

Japanese: 特権

More Translations »

privilege

1154 (recorded earlier in O.E., but as a Latin word), from O.Fr. privilege (12c.), from L. privilegium "law applying to one person," later "privilege," from privus "individual" + lex (gen. legis) "law."

Main Entry: priv·i·lege
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin privilegium law affecting a specific person, special right, from privus private + leg- lex law
1 : a right, license, or exemption from duty or liability granted as a special benefit, advantage, or favor: as a : an exemption from liability where an action is deemed to be justifiable (as in the case of self-defense) or because of the requirements of a position or office; also : the affirmative defense that an action is privileged —compare EXCUSE

absolute privilege
: a privilege that exempts a person from liability esp. for defamation regardless of intent or motive; specifically : a privilege that exempts high public officials (as legislators) from liability for statements made while acting in their official capacity without regard to intent or malice

qualified privilege
: a privilege esp. in the law of defamation that may be defeated esp. by a showing of actual malice called also conditional privilege b : an exemption from a requirement to disclose information (as for trial) that is granted because of a relationship or position that demands confidentiality privilege> privilege> privilege> privilege> —see also CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION

deliberative process privilege
: a privilege exempting the government from disclosure (as in discovery) of government agency materials containing opinions, recommendations, and other communications that are part of the decision-making process within the agency

executive privilege
: a privilege exempting the executive branch of government from disclosing communications if such disclosure would adversely affect the functions and decision-making process of that branch —see also United States v. Nixon in the IMPORTANT CASES section
NOTE: Executive privilege is based on the separation of powers doctrine. In United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court held that this privilege is not absolute and that without a claim of a need to protect military, diplomatic, or national security secrets, the need for evidence in a criminal trial will outweigh a general assertion of executive privilege.

informant's privilege
: the privilege of the government to withhold the identity of an informant who has provided evidence for a criminal trial called also informer's privilege

jour·nal·ist's privilege
: REPORTER'S PRIVILEGE in this entry

privilege against self–incrimination
: a privilege under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protecting a person from compulsion to make self-incriminating statements

re·port·er's privilege
: a privilege protecting a reporter from compulsion to reveal information acquired in the course of gathering news called also journalist's privilege c : something specially permitted or granted as a matter of discretion that may be limited or taken away privilege was generously granted in [the] past —National Law Journal> —compare RIGHT d in the civil law of Louisiana : a right of a creditor conferred by the nature of a debt to have priority over the debtor's other creditors
2 : any of various fundamental or specially sacred rights considered as particularly guaranteed to all persons by a constitution and esp. by the privileges and immunities clause of the U.S. Constitution

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