privilege

noun

(countable) A particular benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity enjoyed by some but not others; a prerogative, preferential treatment.

(uncountable) The fact of being privileged; the status or existence of (now especially social or economic) benefit or advantage within a given society.

An especially rare or fortunate opportunity; the good fortune (to do something).

(computing) An ability to perform an action on the system that can be selectively granted or denied to users.

A right or immunity enjoyed by a legislative body or its members.

(law) A common law doctrine that protects certain communications from being used as evidence in court.

(ecclesiastical law, now chiefly historical) An exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope.

(countable, US, finance, now rare) A stock market option.

verb

(transitive) To prioritize.

(archaic, transitive) To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize

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

Roots

privusprivi- · Latin · one's own, separate lex-leg · Latin · law

Synonyms for privilege

prerogativen perquisiten permissionn favorn exemptionn

Synonyms & related words for privilege

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of privilege — including prerogative, perquisite, permission, favor, exemption. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to privilege

Explore words related to privilege — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include unprivileged, entitlement, declinature, isonomy, disentitle, entitles, afforded, entitling. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for privilege

Common synonyms for privilege include prerogative, perquisite, permission, favor, exemption — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does privilege come from?

The word privilege breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: privi-, from Latin privus (“one's own, separate”); and -leg, from Latin lex (“law”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.