rightness

English

Etymology

From Middle English rightnesse, riȝtnesse, rihtnesse, from Old English rihtnes, rehtnis, from Proto-West Germanic *rehtanassī (“rightness, justice”), equivalent to right +‎ -ness. Cognate with West Frisian rjochtens (“rightness”), Middle Dutch rechtenesse (“rightness, justification”), Old High German rehtnissa (“justice”).

Noun

rightness (usually uncountable, plural rightnesses)

1. (uncountable) The characteristic of being right; correctness.

   Antonyms: error, wrongness

2. (countable) The result or product of being right; something correct.
3. The property of being on, or moving toward, the right.

   Antonym: leftness

   • 1996, Robert Cummins, Representations, Targets, and Attitudes, page 105:

     I think we are inclined to think the leftness and rightness can be represented because there is a word in our language that means left, and another that means right, and we understand those words.