Old English rehte, rihte "in a straight or direct manner; in a right manner, justly; precisely, exactly" (as in right now); "according to rule; according to fact or truth, correctly," from right (adj.1). Compare Old Saxon rehto, Old Frisian riuchte, Middle Dutch richte, German recht, adverbs from the adjectives.
Its use with adjectives (right smart, right nice, etc.) now is U.S. colloquial but dates to c. 1200 and is in Chaucer, Malory, Jonson, Coleridge. In titles of address from late 14c. Right on as an exclamation of approval is recorded by 1925 in African-American vernacular, popularized mid-1960s by the Black Panther movement.
Latvian capital and former Hanseatic city, founded 1201, according to Room the name is from either Lithuanian ringa "bend, curve," or Latvian ridzina "stream," both with reference to its position on the Dvina River.
word-forming element in Old English and early Middle English, from old English riht "just, good, fair; proper, fitting; straight, not bent, direct, erect," which was used as the second element in compounds. See right (adj.1). Surviving in downright, forthright, etc.
fore-and-aft rigged vessel, originally with but two masts, 1716, perhaps from a New England verb related to Scottish scon "to send over water, to skip stones." Skeat relates this dialectal verb to shunt. The spelling probably was influenced by Dutch, but Dutch schoener is a loan-word from English, as are German Schoner, French schooner, Swedish skonert. The type of ship itself is said to have been first built in Gloucester, Mass., shipyard.
The rig characteristic of a schooner has been defined as consisting essentially of two gaff sails, the after sail not being smaller than the fore, and a head sail set on a bowsprit. [OED]
Meaning "tall beer glass" is by 1879, of unknown origin or connection to the sailing ship word (the ships are not noted for their size); OED calls it a "fanciful use" of it.
"a conceited, narrow-minded pragmatical person; a dull, precise person; one who cultivates or affects propriety and offends or bores others," 1753, originally in reference to theological scruples (1704), a word of unknown origin.
It could be related to earlier appearances of the same word meaning "a dandy, coxcomb, fop" (1670s), "thief" (c. 1600; in forms prigger, prigman recorded from 1560s). Century Dictionary speculates the modern word is "perhaps a later application (of the "thief" sense) in the general sense, among "the profession," of 'a smart fellow.' " Also compare thieves' cant prig "a tinker" (1560s). In Middle English a prig was a kind of small nail used in roofing or tiling (14c.), perhaps from prick.
A p[rig] is wise beyond his years in all the things that do not matter. A p. cracks nuts with a steam hammer: that is, calls in the first principles of morality to decide whether he may, or must, do something of as little importance as drinking a glass of beer. On the whole, one may, perhaps, say that all his different characteristics come from the combination, in varying proportions, of three things—the desire to do his duty, the belief that he knows better than other people, & blindness to the difference in value between different things. [quoted in Fowler, 1926, who writes that it can be found in "an anonymous volume of essays"]
Also compare prim, primp, prank, prink "make an ostentatious display; dress with pretty ornaments" (1570s); "walk affectedly or daintily" (1690s). Related: Priggish; priggishly; priggery.
