Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BIRTH'RIGHT, n. [birth and right.]

Any right or privilege to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution. Esau, for a morsel, sold his birthright. – Heb. xii. It may be used in the sense of primogeniture, or the privilege of the first born, but is applicable to any right which results from descent.