Definition of privilege

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priv·i·lege    (prv-lj, prvlj) KEY 

NOUN:

1. 1. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right.
   2. Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.
2. The principle of granting and maintaining a special right or immunity: a society based on privilege.
3. Law The right to privileged communication in a confidential relationship, as between client and attorney, patient and physician, or communicant and priest.
4. An option to buy or sell a stock, including put, call, spread, and straddle.

TRANSITIVE VERB:
priv·i·leged, priv·i·leg·ing, priv·i·leg·es

1. To grant a privilege to.
2. To free or exempt.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prvilgium, a law affecting one person : prvus, single, alone; see per¹ in Indo-European roots + lx, lg-, law; see leg- in Indo-European roots