Entitlement

How to spell entitlement

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce entitlement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does entitlement mean?

1. nounA right to have or receive something, especially a benefit guaranteed by law or agreement.
2. nounThe belief that one inherently deserves privileges or special treatment.

Entitlement in a sentence

• Every full-time worker has a statutory holiday entitlement.

• His sense of entitlement made him expect a refund without any receipt.

• The pension entitlement depends on how many years you have contributed.

• The manager criticised the team's air of entitlement about promotions.

Where does entitlement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on the verb 'entitle', which English took from Old French 'entituler' in the 1300s, itself from the Late Latin 'intitulare', meaning 'to give a title or heading to'. The core lies in the Latin 'titulus', which originally meant an inscription, a label, or a notice board, and by extension the formal claim or rank such a label conferred. Over time 'entitle' shifted from 'to give a name or heading' towards 'to give someone a rightful claim', and the abstract noun 'entitlement' followed naturally with the productive '-ment' suffix, recorded in English from around the early 1800s. The same 'titulus' root sits inside the everyday words 'title' and 'titular', which is a useful memory hook: keep the clean 'title' intact in the middle and the spelling falls into place, en + title + ment.

How the word is built

• en- (to make, put into)
• title (from Latin titulus: a claim, label, heading)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)