Privilege

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He pleads the legal privilege of a Roman.
                                                    --Kettlewell.
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              The privilege birthright was a double portion.
                                                    --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A people inheriting privileges, franchises, and
              liberties.                            --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Stockbroker's Cant) See {Call}, {Put}, {Spread}, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Privilege \Priv"i*lege\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Privileged}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Privileging}.] [Cf. F. privil['e]gier.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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.
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              To privilege dishonor in thy name.    --Shak.
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     2. To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption
        from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He took this place for sanctuary, And it shall
              privilege him from your hands.        --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  privilege
       n 1: a special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by
            all
       2: a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group
          (especially a hereditary or official right); "suffrage was
          the prerogative of white adult males" [syn: {prerogative},
           {perquisite}, {exclusive right}]
       3: (law) the right to refuse to divulge information obtained in
          a confidential relationship
       v : bestow a privilege upon [syn: {favor}, {favour}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  78 Moby Thesaurus words for "privilege":
     accomplishment, advantage, allowance, appanage, ascendancy,
     authority, authorization, authorize, benefit, birthright,
     blank check, boon, carte blanche, certificate, certify, charter,
     concession, consent, copyright, deanship, diplomatic immunity,
     discharge, dispensation, empower, enable, enfranchise, entitle,
     excellence, exception, exemption, favor, franchise, freedom,
     give official sanction, give power, grant, greatness, immunity,
     incomparability, indulgence, inimitability, lead, leave, legalize,
     legislative immunity, legitimize, liberty, license, majority,
     one-upmanship, patent, permission, perquisite, precedence,
     predominance, predomination, preeminence, preponderance,
     prepotence, prepotency, prerogative, prestige, priority, ratify,
     release, right, right-of-way, sanction, seniority, skill,
     special favor, success, superiority, transcendence, transcendency,
     validate, virtuosity, warrant
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRIVILEGE, mar. law. An allowance to the master of a ship of the general 
  nature with primage, (q.v.) being compensation or rather a gratuity 
  customary in certain trades, and which the law assumes to be a fair and 
  equitable allowance, because the contract on both sides is made under the 
  knowledge such usage by the parties. 3 Chit. Com. Law, 431. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRIVILEGE, rights. This word, taken its active sense, is a particular law, 
  or a particular disposition of the law, which grants certain special 
  prerogatives to some persons, contrary to common right. In its passive 
  sense, it is the same prerogative granted by the same particular law. 
        2. Examples of privilege may be found in all systems of law; members 
  of congress and of the several legislatures, during a certain time, parties
  and witnesses while attending court; and coming to and returning from the
  same; electors, while going to the election, remaining on the ground, or
  returning from the same, are all privileged from arrest, except for treason,
  felony or breach of the peace. 
       3. Privileges from arrest for civil cases are either general and 
  absolute, or limited and qualified as to time or place. 
       4.-1. In the first class may be mentioned ambassadors, and their 
  servants, when the debt or duty has been contracted by the latter since they 
  entered into the service of such ambassador; insolvent debtors duly 
  discharged under the insolvent laws; in some places, as in Pennsylvania, 
  women for any debt by them contracted; and in general, executors and 
  administrators, when sued in their representative character, though they 
  have been held to bail. 2 Binn. 440. 
       5.-2. In the latter class may be placed, 1st. Members of congress this 
  privilege is strictly personal, and is not only his own, or that of his 
  constituent, but also that of the house of which he is a member, which every 
  man is bound to know, and must take notice of. Jeff. Man. Sec. 3; 2 Wils. R. 
  151; Com. Dig. Parliament, D. 17. The time during which the privilege 
  extends includes all the period of the session of congress, and a reasonable 
  time for going to, and returning from the seat of government. Jeff. Man. 
  Sec. 3; Story, Const. Sec. 856 to 862; 1 Kent, Com. 221; 1 Dall. R. 296. The 
  same privilege is extended to the members of the different state 
  legislatures. 
       6.-2d. Electors under the constitution and laws of the United States, 
  or of any state, are protected from arrest for any civil cause, or for any 
  crime except treason, felony, or a breach of the peace, eundo, morando, et 
  redeundo, that is, going to, staying at, or returning from the election. 
       7.-3d. Militia men, while engaged in the performance of military duty, 
  under the laws, and eundo, morando et redeundo. 
       8.-4th. All persons who, either necessarily or of right are attending 
  any court or forum of justice, whether as judge, juror, party interested or 
  witness, and eundo, morando et redeundo. See 6 Mass. R, 245; 4 Dall. R. 329, 
  487; 2 John. R. 294; 1 South. R. 366; 11 Mass. R. 11; 3 Cowen, R. 381; 1 
  Pet. C. C. R. 41. 
       9. Ambassadors are wholly exempt from arrest for civil or criminal 
  cases. 
       Vide Ambassador. See, generally, Bac. Ab. h.t.; 2 Rolle's Ab. 272; 2 
  Lilly's Reg. 369; Brownl. 15; 13 Mass. R. 288; 1 Binn. R. 77; 1 H. Bl. 686; 
  Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRIVILEGE, civil law. A right which the nature of a debt gives to a 
  creditor, and which entitles him to be preferred before other creditors. 
  Louis. Code, art. 3153; Dict. de Juris. art. Privilege: Domat, Lois Civ. 
  liv. 2, t. 1, s. 4, n. 1. 
       2. Creditors of the same rank of privileges, are paid in concurrence, 
  that is, on an equal footing. Privileges may exist either in movables, or 
  immovables, or both at once. They are general or special, on certain 
  movables. The debts which are privileged on all the movables in general, are 
  the following, which are paid in this order. 1. Funeral charges. 2. Law 
  charges, which are such as are occasioned by the prosecution of a suit 
  before the courts. But this name applies more particularly to costs, which 
  the party cast has to pay to the party gaining the cause. It is in favor of 
  these only that the law grants the privilege. 3. Charges, of whatever 
  nature, occasioned by the last sickness, concurrently among those to whom 
  they are due; see Last sickness. 4. The wages of servants for the year past, 
  and so much as is due for the current year. 5. Supplies of provisions made 
  to the debtor or his family during the last six months, by retail dealers, 
  such as bakers, butchers, grocers; and during the last year by keepers of 
  boarding houses and taverns. 6. The salaries of clerks, secretaries, and 
  other persons of that kind. 7. Dotal rights, due to wives by their husbands. 
       3. The debts which are privileged on particular movables, are, 1. The 
  debt of a workman or artisan for the price of his labor, on the movable 
  which he has repaired, or made, if the thing continues still in his 
  possession. 2. That debt on the pledge which is in the creditor's 
  possession. 3. The carrier's charges and accessory expenses on the thing 
  carried. 4. The price due on movable effects, if they are yet in the 
  possession of the purchaser; and the like. See Lien. 
       4. Creditors have a privilege on immovables, or real estate in some, 
  cases, of which the following are instances: 1. The vendor on the estate by 
  him sold, for the payment of the price, or so much of it as is due whether 
  it be sold on or without a credit. 2. Architects and undertakers, 
  bricklayers and other workmen employed in constructing, rebuilding or 
  repairing houses, buildings, or making other works on such houses, 
  buildings, or works by them constructed, rebuilt or repaired. 3. Those who 
  have supplied the owner with materials for the construction or repair of an 
  edifice or other work, which he has erected or repaired out of these 
  materials, on the edifice or other work constructed or repaired. Louis. 
  Code, art. 3216. See, generally, as to privilege. Louis. Code, tit. 21; Code 
  Civ. tit. 18; Dict. de Juris. tit. Privilege; Lien; Last sickness; 
  Preference.