Entitlement

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Definition

• I. From TITLE = ‘superscription, designation’.

1. trans. To furnish (a literary work, a chapter, etc.) with a heading or superscription; in early use gen. (cf. TITLE n.). Subsequently only in narrower sense: To give to (a book, etc.) a designation by which it is to be cited, or which indicates the nature of its contents. Chiefly with complementary obj.; also const. by, with.

b. To inscribe, dedicate (a book) to a person.

c. To ascribe (a literary work) to an author. With mixed notion of 5c.

d. ? To prefix the name of (an alleged author) to. Obs. (Perh. belongs to 5.)

2. To bestow on (a person) a certain title or designation expressing his rank, office, or character; to speak of (a person) by a certain title. Formerly also, to give a certain designation to (a thing). Const. as in 1.

3. To write down under proper titles or headings. Obs.

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• II. From TITLE = ‘right to possession’.

4. To furnish (a person) with a ‘title’ to an estate. Hence gen. to give (a person or thing) a rightful claim to a possession, privilege, designation, mode of treatment, etc. Const. to with n. or inf.; also simply. Now said almost exclusively of circumstances, qualities, or actions; formerly often of personal agents.

b. spec. To furnish with a TITLE to orders.

c. To invest with an office, etc. Obs.

d. To qualify, render apt. Const. to. Obs.

e. To assign the possession of (something) to; to settle (an estate) on a person. Obs.

f. Phrase, to entitle and engage.

5. To regard or treat (a person) as having a title to something. Hence, to represent (a person or thing) as the agent, cause, or subject of a particular action, effect, condition, or quality. Const. in, to, with n., rarely with inf. Obs.

b. refl. To lay claim to. Obs.

c. To impute (something) to. Obs. Cf. 1c.

Description

Entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits because of rights or by agreement through law. It also refers, in a more casual sense, to someone's belief that one is deserving of some particular reward or benefit. [1] It is often used pejoratively in common parlance (e.g. a "sense of entitlement").

Terminology

As a legal term, entitlement carries no value judgment: it simply denotes a right granted. For example in the United States of America social security is an entitlement program. Federal entitlement programs more costly

In clinical psychology and psychiatry, an unrealistic, exaggerated, or rigidly held sense of entitlement may be considered a symptom of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

In Land Development, the Entitlement Process is the legal method of obtaining approvals for the right to develop property for a desired use (e.g. rezoning).

In computer security, entitlement can also refer to access control.