Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Prerogative
Pre-rog′a-tive
,Noun.
[F.
prérogative
, from L. praerogativa
precedence in voting, preference, privilege, fr. praerogativus
that is asked before others for his opinion, that votes before or first, fr. praerogare
to ask before another; prae
before + rogare
to ask. See Rogation
.] 1.
An exclusive or peculiar privilege; prior and indefeasible right; fundamental and essential possession; – used generally of an official and hereditary right which may be asserted without question, and for the exercise of which there is no responsibility or accountability as to the fact and the manner of its exercise.
The two faculties that are the
prerogative
of man – the powers of abstraction and imagination. I. Taylor.
An unconstitutional exercise of his
prerogative
. Macaulay.
2.
Precedence; preëminence; first rank.
[Obs.]
Then give me leave to have
prerogative
. Shakespeare
☞ The term came into general use in the conflicts between the Crown and Parliaments of Great Britain, especially in the time of the Stuarts.
Prerogative Court
(Eng. Law)
, a court which formerly had authority in the matter of wills and administrations, where the deceased left bona notabilia, or effects of the value of five pounds, in two or more different dioceses.
Blackstone.
– Prerogative office
, the office in which wills proved in the Prerogative Court were registered.
Syn. – Privilege; right. See
Privilege
. Webster 1828 Edition
Prerogative
PREROG'ATIVE
, [L. proerogativa, precedence in voting; proe, before, and rogo, to ask or demand.] An exclusive or peculiar privilege. A royal prerogative, is that special pre-eminence which a king has over all other persons, and out of the course of the common law, in right of his regal dignity. It consists in the possession of certain rights which the king may exercise to the exclusion of all participation of his subjects; for when a right or privilege is held in common with the subject, it ceases to be a prerogative. Thus the right of appointing embassadors,and of making peace and war, are, in Great Britain, royal prerogatives. The right of governing created beings is the prerogative of the Creator.It is the prerogative of the house of peers in Great Britain to decide legal questions in the last resort. It is the prerogative of the house of commons to determine the validity of all elections of their own members. It is the prerogative of a father to govern his children. It is the prerogative of the understanding to judge and compare.
In the United States, it is the prerogative of the president, with the advice of the senate, to ratify treaties.
Definition 2024
prérogative
prérogative
See also: prerogative
French
Noun
prérogative f (plural prérogatives)
- prerogative (a right, or power that is exclusive to a monarch, etc.)