▪ I. righter1
(ˈraɪtə(r))
[See right v. and -er1. Cf. OFris. riuchtere, MDu. rechter(e, richter(e, Du. rechter, † regter), MLG. richter(e, OHG. rihtâri (G. richter), ON. réttari judge, executioner.]
† 1. One who arranges or regulates. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §3 Ic wat ðætte God rihtere is his aᵹenes weorces. 1593 Queen Elizabeth Boeth. iv. pr. i. 75 When the Righter of all thing is good. |
† 2. An executioner, headsman. Obs.—1
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 88/1 The rightar brandysshid hys swerd ouer their heedes. |
3. One who settles or sets right (esp. wrongs, grievances, etc.); a redresser, vindicator.
| 1598 Florio, Gi{uacu}dice, a iudge, a commissarie, a righter of causes. [Hence 1611 Cotgrave s.v. luge.] 1612 Shelton Quix. i. iv. 26 Know that I am the valorous Don-Quixote of the Mancha, the righter of wrongs, and vndoer of iniuries. 1711 ‘J. Distaff’ Char. Don Sacheverellio 9 Behold in me the Righter of Injuries. 1822 Scott Peveril x, The times demand righters and avengers, and there will be no want of them. 1876 Morris Sigurd iv. 328 The righter of wrongs, the deliverer. |
▪ II. ˈrighter2
[f. right n.1]
An advocate of (some one's) rights. Also in equal righter, an advocate of equal rights for women.
| 1896 Truth 22 Oct. 1029/2 Some ladies—evidently Equal Righters—reproach me with having last week devoted far more space to the Czar than to his consort. 1897 Globe 11 Mar. 3/4 She is what one might call an early specimen of a woman's righter. |