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rightwise

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rightwise¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English rightwise, rightwis, from Old English rihtwīs (“righteous, just; right, justifiable”), corresponding to right + -wise. The second element was later confused with or assimilated to -ous, leading to the modern spelling righteous.

adjective more rightwise · most rightwise

  1. obsolete Obsolete spelling of righteous I came not to call the rightwise, but the synners to repentaunce.

verb rightwises · rightwising · rightwised

  1. archaic, rare Archaic spelling of righteous (“make righteous; justify religiously, absolve from sin”). God's righteousness is what it must be as the power which rightwises the sinner, namely, God's victory over against the rebellion of the world.

rightwise²

Where it comes from

Presumably from Old English rihtwīs, reinforced by reanalysis as right + wise.

adverb

  1. not comparable, rare Rightly (correctly or justly); rightfully. And, after that fourth trial, sundry of the kings and many of the lesser barons and knights and all of the commons cried out that these were trials enough, and that Arthur had assuredly approved himself to be rightwise King […]

rightwise³

  • /ˈɹaɪtwaɪz/ UK
  • /ˈɹaɪtˌwaɪz/ US

Where it comes from

From right + -wise.

adverb

  1. not comparable, rare By a rightward path; rightwards, rightwardly; clockwise (in a clockwise manner). and doing so they say that they do it themselves rightwise and the Hellenes leftwise.

adjective

  1. rare Rightward (to or from the right side); on the right side. […] that, abutting against the end of H, or nearly so, it will lock said bar as against a return or rightwise motion, and then said bar will be locked as against a reverse motion, and, being locked, its flop D cannot be rotated back, […]
  2. rare Clockwise, moving clockwise. In Tibet the compass points are described in a rightwise circle; one speaks there of east-south and west-north instead of south-east and north-west.

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MLA

"rightwise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rightwise. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rightwise. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rightwise

Chicago

"rightwise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rightwise.

BibTeX
@misc{rightwise_2026,
  title = {rightwise},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rightwise},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}