birthright
Inherited privilege automatically
A birthright is something you're entitled to simply by being born—whether into a particular family, nation, or circumstance.
The firstborn's birthright to inherit was once paramount: Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.
More broadly, birthright suggests inherent entitlement: Freedom of speech is our birthright as Americans.
The word often appears in debates about citizenship and privilege.
Exclusive right or benefit
- prerogativeExclusive right of office
- claimStatement of ownership or truth
- dueOwed or expected
- guaranteeFormal promise of fulfillment
franchise · charter · exemption · license · authority · legitimacy · benefit · advantage
What's passed down
- bequestGift left by will
- patrimonyInherited estate or legacy
- estateProperty and grounds
- heirloomInherited family treasure
endowment · succession · primogeniture · entailment · beneficiary · heir · firstborn · trust
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- kinshipState of being related
clan · tribe · dynasty · heritage · pedigree · roots · lineage · family
Custom passed through generations
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- identityWho someone is
- cultureCollective social practices
folklore · ethnicity · mother-tongue · citizenship · nationality · belonging · community · diaspora
privilege
Exclusive right or benefit
- prerogativeExclusive right of office
- claimStatement of ownership or truth
- dueOwed or expected
guarantee · franchise · charter · exemption · license · authority · legitimacy · benefit · advantage · perk
legacy
What's passed down
heirloom · endowment · succession · primogeniture · entailment · beneficiary · heir · firstborn · trust · devise
ancestry
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- genealogyStudy of family descent
kinship · clan · tribe · dynasty · heritage · pedigree · roots · lineage · family · forebears
tradition
Custom passed through generations
culture · folklore · ethnicity · mother-tongue · citizenship · nationality · belonging · community · diaspora · indigenous
- Clanclansman, clansmen, clanswoman, chieftain, kinship ties
- naturalizationcitizenship test, naturalization ceremony, naturalization test, naturalization certificate, citizenship oath
- Royal Lineagebloodline, bloodlines, heir apparent, heiress, line of succession
- royal successionthrone, succession, line of succession, order of succession, succession line
- successionheir apparent, heir presumptive, line of succession, primogeniture, successor
- Jewish Inheritancedouble portion, firstborn, heirs, heirship, primogeniture
birthrightachievement
Accomplished goal or deed
merit · accomplishment · credential · qualification · meritocracy
birthrightprohibition
Authoritative legal ban
barring · exclusion · forfeiture · disinheritance · banning