I. prēˈrägəd.iv, prə̇-, -ətiv, by r- dissimilation ÷pəˈ- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French prerogative, from Latin praerogativa preference, privilege, Roman century chosen by lot to be the first to vote in the comitia, from feminine of praerogativus that votes first, that is first asked to express an opinion, from praerogatus (past participle of praerogare to ask before another, from prae- pre- + rogare to ask) + -ivus -ive — more at right
1.
a.
(1) : a right attached to an office or rank to exercise a special privilege or function ; specifically : an official and hereditary right (as of a royal sovereign) that may be asserted without question and for which there is in theory no responsibility or accountability as to the fact and manner of its exercise though in practice it is usually limited by the power of public opinion or by statute and is generally (as in England) exercised on the advice of ministers who are responsible to a legislative body
(2) : a sovereign right inhering in a state or in the head of a state
the prerogative of the president to commute punishments and grant reprieves or pardons
b. : a special right or privilege belonging to a person, group, or class of individuals
cruelty remains the special prerogative of men — Christine Weston
in his youth, to sit thus was the prerogative of the gentry — Oscar Handlin
c. : a privilege, advantage, or precedence attaching to one who holds an office
2.
a. : a special quality that gives superiority : a distinctive excellence
the lively nature and gay wit which were the family prerogative — Modern Philology
b. obsolete : precedence , preeminence
give me leave to have prerogative — Shakespeare
3. : a right of voting first
Synonyms: see right
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English (Scots), from Medieval Latin praerogativus, from Latin, that votes first
1. : of, relating to, or deriving from a prerogative : existing or exercised by special right or privilege : privileged
prerogative power
prerogative right
2. : privileged to vote first
prerogative century of Roman citizens
3. : of or relating to a prerogative court
prerogative records
prerogative procedure