Right, Rite or Write

Photo of author

Grammarist

Right means 1.) morally upright, 2.) in agreement with the truth or a fact, 3.) what is correct according to someone’s opinion or judgement, 4.) socially important, 5.) a direction that when a person faces north, corresponds eastward, 6.) politically conservative, 7.) legally entitled, 8.) thoroughly, 9.) precisely, 10.) restore to a correct, upright position, 11.) put in order. Related words are rights, righted, righting, rightly, rightward. Right comes from the Old English word riht, meaning just, good, fair, proper, fitting, straight, not bent, direct, erect.

Write means to mark down coherent words on paper, usually with a pen or pencil. Write also means to compose coherent text on a typewriter, computer or other machine. Write may also refer to composing a musical work. Related words are writes, wrote, writing, written, writable. Write comes from the Old English word writan meaning to score, outline, draw the figure of.

Rite means a prescribed procedure in religious ceremonies or an institutionalized social practice. Rite comes from the Latin word ritus, meaning religious observance or ceremony, custom, usage.

 Examples

The 5 Best Black Friday-Style Sales Available Right Now (TIME)

Mark Sale says Birmingham City will ‘be looking to put things right very quickly’ when against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow night. (The Birmingham Mail)

If you’re westbound on U.S. Highway 62B at the junction with AR Highway 5 North and AR Highway 201 North — known as the “north junction” — and wanting to turn right, you might even get a little frustrated when traffic progresses slowly and as you approach the intersection the light changes to red, the vehicle ahead of you stops and you can’t make a right turn on red. (The Baxter Bulletin)

“Erdogan has managed to consolidate much of the political right,” he said in an email. (Reuters)

“If I were to write Fever Pitch now, it would be older, wiser and more boring because one of the things that made the book was its lack of perspective [laughs].” (The Guardian)

Many applicants feel an obligation to write something, and struggle with what that something should be. (U. S. News & World Report)

Currently, ‎the new monarch is at Ilofi, where the Ife traditionalists are expected to perform some ritual rites, including presentation of staff of office. (The Daily Times Nigeria)

These festivities would then flow into the liturgical rites of All Saints’ Day, building a positive bridge between “reverie and the reverence.” (The Elko Daily Free Press)

Enjoyed reading about these homophones? Check out some others we covered: