To entitle someone means to give them the right to have or do something. When you buy a movie ticket, it entitles you to watch the film. A library card entitles you to borrow books. When a coupon entitles you to a free dessert, it means you have the right to claim it.

The word also appears in book and movie titles. When an author entitles her novel “The Secret Garden,” she's giving it that name. You might say a chapter is entitled “The Discovery” or a painting is entitled “Sunset Over the Harbor.”

There's an important related word: entitled. When someone acts entitled, they behave as if they deserve special treatment without earning it. An entitled student might demand extra time on a test just because they want it, not because they need it. Someone who acts entitled expects privileges and gets upset when they don't receive them, even when others are following fair rules. This sense of entitled describes an attitude problem: believing the world owes you something simply because you exist, rather than understanding that most good things come through effort, fairness, and mutual respect.