means The freedoms, claims, and protections a person is entitled to — morally or legally — simply by being a person, a citizen, or a party to an agreement.

from From Old English 'riht,' meaning straight, just, or correct — the same word that gives us 'right' as in not-wrong and not-left. Its roots run back to Proto-Indo-European '*reg-,' 'to move in a straight line, to rule,' a cousin of Latin 'rectus' (straight) and 'rex' (king). So at its core a 'right' is what is straight and proper — the moral measuring-line — and over centuries that sense of correctness hardened into the idea of a just claim that's owed to you.