Meanings
nounair rights pl (plural only)
- pluralplural onlyThe right to build over an existing property.
In the 1970s, Donald Trump paid $5m for the air rights above the landmarked Tiffany building on Fifth Avenue, which, along with various other deals, allowed him to inflate what would have been a 20-storey building into the 58-storey Trump Tower.
2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2020
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 上空建築權 /上空建筑权, 領空權 /领空权
- 上空建築權 /上空建筑权 (shàngkōng jiànzhúquán)right to build over an existing property
- 領空權 /领空权 (lǐngkōngquán)right to fly over a certain territory
Finnish kiinteistön pystysuuntainen ulottuvuus, lento-oikeus
- kiinteistön pystysuuntainen ulottuvuusright to build over an existing property
- lento-oikeusright to fly over a certain territory
Cite this entry
APA
air rights. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20rights
MLA
“air rights.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20rights. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “air rights,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20rights.
Source: air rights on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.