'right' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'riht', which comes via Proto-Germanic '*rehtaz' where the root '*reg-' meant 'move in a straight line, to rule'.

'right' changed from Old English 'riht' through Middle English forms (riht, right) and eventually became the modern English word 'right'.

Initially it meant 'straight' or 'direct', and over time it broadened to include senses of 'correct', 'just', and 'entitled'—the sense of restoring or making correct comes from these core ideas.