entitlementn.
/ᵻnˈtʌɪtlm(ə)nt/, /ɛnˈtʌɪtlm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ᵻnˈtaɪdlmənt/, /ɛnˈtaɪdlmənt/ 1.
a. A legal right or just claim to do, receive, or possess something. Also as mass noun. Frequently with to.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > [noun] > one's right(s)
i-rihtsc1000
rightc1300
judgementc1350
duec1450
droit1481
shayth1542
say1614
legitimate1650
pretension1710
entitlement1782
1782 Morning Herald & Daily Advertiser 18 Mar. 2/4 A military order, it is also added, is established, to reward (without entitlements of rank, interest, or other recommendation) the heroes who may fortunately signalize themselves in the conflicts of war.
1789 Public Advertiser 10 July 2/1 The entitlement of a man to this choice cannot be disputed.
1860 Morning Chron. 18 Apr. 4/6 If success be a criterion of entitlement to eminence of position, Herr Lubeck has won his way already to the front rank.
1896 Biloxi (Mississippi) Herald 29 Aug. 1/3 The people of the South are entitled to self-government, and any invasion of this entitlement is a denial of the principle of government under which they live.
1938 Atlanta Constit. 6 Aug. 5/7 In most opposition there is room for fair play and a certain gallantry between opponents that permits recognition of rights and entitlements.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 919/2 Those responsible for fixing salary scales would probably wish to reconsider the entitlement of psychiatrists to be graded as medical specialists.
1998 I. Hunter Which? Guide to Employm. vi. 117 The right to return is an entitlement to return to the job in which the worker was formerly employed.
2008 C. Watters Refugee Children vii. 157 The question as to whether refugee children have entitlement to a particular service, for example, education or health care, can be answered by reference to bodies of official literature.
b. Chiefly North American. A service, benefit, or payment granted to an eligible party through a government programme. Also: a programme of this type; = entitlement programme n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [noun] > social service provided by (local) government > benefit provided by state
benefit1875
welfare benefit1913
sustenance1917
social security1943
entitlement1945
welfare1968
1945 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 11 Aug. 4/6 These men..do not, however, receive the same entitlements as servicemen in regard to establishment under the Veterans' Land Act, vocational and technical training, educational benefits, [etc.].
1973 New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico) 20 Apr. a3/2 In the past, federal regulations allowed a school district to spend only 50 per cent of its PL874 entitlement during the year the distribution was made.
1982 R. Reagan in N.Y. Times 7 Feb. 26/2 By remaining firm in our efforts to reduce waste and excess, reform entitlements,..[etc.], the gap..will gradually diminish.
2013 Cincinnati Enquirer (Electronic ed.) 31 Jan. 9 Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements are going broke.
c. The belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. Frequently in sense of entitlement.
ΚΠ
1952 Mental Hygiene (U.S. National Assoc. for Mental Health) 36 243 The self-image can best be clarified through examination into those areas where one finds rage, resentment, withdrawal, or paralysis phenomena, conversion symptoms, sense of entitlement, felt needs, or unassailable assumptions.
1977 Boston Globe 25 Sept. b1/6 It's entitlement... I just think our children grow up taking a lot for granted.
1998 M. Loney Pursuit of Division 308 It is a striking example of the sense of entitlement of middle-class feminists that they should suppose that highly paid, prestigious occupations..should also provide incumbents with the right to routinely leave their posts at 4:30 p.m.
2009 Financial Times 7 Oct. 15/2 It involves abandoning the ingrained sense of entitlement and dependence prevalent in many of our communities.
2. A designation or name; cf. entitle v. 2. Also in plural in same sense (chiefly colloquial, esp. in representations of African-American speech). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun]
nameeOE
wordeOE
clepinga1300
namingc1300
neveningc1300
titlec1390
notea1393
stylec1400
calling?a1425
nomination?a1425
vocable1440
appellation1447
denomination?a1475
vocation1477
preface1582
prenomination1599
nomenclature1610
expressiona1631
denotation1631
appellative1632
compellation1637
denominate1638
nomenclation1638
nominance1642
titularity1643
entitlement1823
compellative1830
cognomen1852
tally1929
denotative1944
anthroponym1952
1823 London Mag. Sept. 279/1 Similar specimens from the third school will, I think, demonstrate the applicability of the name, Poetic pure, to it, as a characteristic entitlement.
1835 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 2 670 Objections were raised..against so unlucky an entitlement.
1883 J. C. Harris Nights with Uncle Remus in Cent. Mag. Aug. 622/1 In dem days..dey wuz a Witch-Rabbit, en dat wuz her entitlements—ole Aunt Mammy-Bammy Big-Money.
1898 Atlanta Constit. 7 Mar. 6/3 (heading) Her cat was misnamed. Police matron makes a statement to police reporter—why cat has not its proper ‘entitlements’.
1910 J. T. Moore Uncle Wash 283 ‘To-be-sho’, my entitlements is Deacon Billy Sparks, dat onct lived with Kunnel Robert McGrew.
1922 Munsey's Mag. Jan. 616/1 Macy and Macy saw a hulking edifice whose roof bore the entitlement in flaring letters: Boiling Springs Hotel.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, esp. in sense 1b, as entitlement reform, entitlement spending, etc.
ΚΠ
1952 Panama City (Florida) News-Herald 10 July 1/4 Built with federal entitlement funds, seven classrooms now accommodate approximately 35 children to each room.
1955 Financial Times 21 May 5/6 The Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers announced here to-day that the entitlement period would be 13 weeks for workers with 12 months' service, rising to 26 weeks after 10 years' service.
1974 Washington Post 7 Sept. d7/3 The D.C. Commission on the Arts ‘had barely made the effort to receive entitlement money from the National Endowment for the Arts’.
1990 Economist 30 June 42/1 Discretionary spending..has been squeezed by rising entitlement spending and interest costs.
2011 A. Morisy Borrowing from Future iii. 45 He made the case that entitlement reform was both a philosophical and moral issue.
C2.
entitlement card n. a document which verifies the bearer's eligibility for a particular public benefit or service.
ΚΠ
1951 Times 2 July 5/5 [Australian] pensioners will now be able to claim free medicine by presentation to the doctor of a pensioner's entitlement card.
1982 Washington Post (Nexis) 30 Jan. b1 Her last..welfare check and..food stamp entitlement card arrived on Dec. 1.
2002 Independent 1 July 14/2 Dressing up identity cards as ‘entitlement cards’ which have to be shown when claiming state benefits makes no difference to the underlying idea.
entitlement programme n. chiefly U.S. a government programme which provides services or financial benefits to any individual, institution, etc., meeting certain eligibility requirements.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > state allowance
benefit1911
welfare benefit1913
welfare cheque1922
social security1943
pogey1954
entitlement programme1956
SS1963
social1966
welfare1970
social benefit1972
relief1995
1956 Newport (Rhode Island) Daily News 29 May 1/8 If the U.S. Office of Education interprets this law in this manner, it would mean a cut of an additional $20,000 from the entitlement program.
1973 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 23 Dec. 15 a/5 What I mean by noncontrollables are those programs that are fixed by prior legislation. Individual entitlement programs are the biggest portion of that—Social Security, medicare, medicaid..and the like.
2003 D. S. Ippolito Why Budgets Matter 187 By the 1960s, Social Security was by far the largest federal entitlement program, accounting for approximately one-half of all payments for individuals.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1782