Meanings
rightwise1
comparative more rightwise · superlative most rightwise
- obsoleteObsolete spelling of righteous .First known use 13th–16th c.
I came not to call the rightwise, but the synners to repentaunce.
1534 November, Willyam Tindale [i.e., William Tyndale], transl., The Newe Testament […] (Tyndale Bible), Antwerp: […] Marten Emperowr, Mark ii:[17], folio xlviii, recto2 more examples
And Plato sayeth that it is extreme iniustice he to seme rightwise which in dede is uniuste.
1531, Thomas Elyot, “Of fraude and disceyte, whiche be agayne Justyce”, in The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio 206, rectoMan feels maddened by his pent-uppness, & woman seems to understand that a rightwise man's cruel-fain-th is part of his hunger for women.
2006, Percy Grainger David Pear, Mark Carroll, edited by Malcolm Gillies, Self-portrait of Percy Grainger, page 167
present singular third person rightwises · participle present rightwising · participle past rightwised · past rightwised
- archaicrareArchaic spelling of righteous (“make righteous; justify religiously, absolve from sin”).
[…] God's righteousness is shown in the rightwising of sinners.
1988, The history and theology of the New Testament writings (Udo Schnelle), page 1212 more examples
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.
circa 1960-1977, Ernst Käsemann, page 377, quoted in 1977 in Paul and Palestinian Judaism →ISBN, page 528In other words, God rightwises or reconciles humans to Him by infusing them with faith.
2011-12, Christopher Vasillopulos, The Triumph of Hate: The Political Theology of the Hitler Movement →ISBN, page 74
rightwise2
- not comparablerareRightly (correctly or justly); rightfully.
[…] made indubitably clear that Arthur was rightwise king of the realm […]
1969, Topic, numbers 17-18, page 372 more examples
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 […]
1915, Howard Pyle, The story of King Arthur and his knights, page 36"That it was Maximus's sword which Merlin found for Arthur and fixed in the stone of Lludyn's Hill by magic arts so that none but he who was rightwise born King of all the Britons could pull it out."
2003, Nancy McKenzie, Grail Prince, page 192
rightwise3
- not comparablerareBy 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.
1890, G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, translated into English1 more example
Similarly, his "doubling procedure" consists in the same random starting interval […] whose length is doubled (leftwise or rightwise at random) recursively till both ends are outside the slice.
2004, Christian P. Robert, George Casella, Monte Carlo statistical methods, page 336
- rareRightward (to or from the right side); on the right side.
The leftwise action aims at what drifts out of the nunka domain of the nefarious. Similarly for mortuary arrangements, what is leftwise is more momentous than what is rightwise.
2006, Arne Røkkum, Nature, ritual, and society in Japan's Ryukyu Islands, page 1511 more example
[…] 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, […]
1866, Specifications and drawings of patents relating to electricity issued by the United States from July 1, 1884, to July 1, 1885, volume 39, published by the United States Patent Office - rareClockwise, 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.
1966, P. H. Pott, Yoga and yantra: their interrelation and their significance for Indian archeology, page 661 more example
Then he stepped before me, and I bade him walk three times in a rightwise circle around me. "This is embarrassing," he growled through clenched teeth as he passed the first time.
2006, Steve Lawhead, The Silver Hand, page 20
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
rightwise · adjective, verb
- Old Englishrihtwīs“righteous, just; right, justifiable”
- Middle Englishrightwise
- Englishrightwise
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →rightwise · adverb
- Old Englishrihtwīs
- Englishrightwise
Presumably from Old English rihtwīs, reinforced by reanalysis as right + wise.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
rightwise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightwise
“rightwise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightwise. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rightwise,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightwise.
Source: rightwise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.