The Right Definition of Rectitude

Rectitude has a righteous derivation. It comes straight from the Latin adjective rectus, which means both "right" and "straight." Rectitude itself can mean either "straightness" (an early use referred to literal straightness of lines, although this sense is now rare) or "rightness" of character. Rectus has a number of other descendants in English, including rectangle (a figure with four right angles), rectify ("to make right"), rectilinear ("moving in or forming a straight line"), and even rectus itself (a medical term for any one of several straight muscles in the body).