Definition of "prerogative" []

• An exclusive right or privilege held by a person or group, especially a hereditary or official right. See Synonyms at right. (noun)
• The exclusive right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge: the principal's prerogative to suspend a student. (noun)
• A special quality that confers superiority. (noun)
• Of, arising from, or exercising a prerogative. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "NEWMYER: Well, a writ of mandamus is an ancient sort of common law, what we call a prerogative writ."
• "Faced with the intention of David Milliband to press on and attempt to ratify the first Lisbon Treaty through the House Of Lords today, Wednesday June 18th, Bill Cash made an application to the High Court yesterday that the royal prerogative is being used illegally."
• "Personal prerogative is lost amidst the world of law and order that ignores humans and humanity."