Privilege means having special advantages, benefits, or opportunities that others don't have. Sometimes privilege comes from circumstances you were born into, like growing up in a wealthy family or living in a safe neighborhood with excellent schools. Other times it's earned through hard work or achievement, like earning the privilege of staying up late after proving you can handle more responsibility.

The word can describe something simple, like when your teacher gives you the privilege of being line leader for the week. It can also describe bigger advantages. A student whose family owns lots of books has the privilege of easy access to reading materials, while another student might need to visit the library for every book they read. Both students can become excellent readers, but one has an advantage the other doesn't.

When someone says “That's a privilege, not a right,” they mean it's a special benefit that can be taken away, unlike fundamental rights that everyone deserves. Your parents might revoke your privilege of using the computer if you don't finish your homework, but they can't take away your right to be treated with respect.

Today, being privileged means having advantages, though it doesn't tell us whether those advantages were earned, given, or inherited through luck at birth.