Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 16, 2026 is:
 
 
 
 
 prerogative &#149; \prih-RAH-guh-tiv\&nbsp; &#149; noun
 Prerogative means "right or privilege," and especially refers to a special right or privilege that some people have.

// If you'd rather sell the tickets than use them, that's your prerogative.

// Education was once only the prerogative of the wealthy.

<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prerogative">See the entry ></a>
 
 
 
 Examples:
 "Successfully arguing an insanity defense, the prerogative of any defendant, is a difficult hurdle." — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2026
 
 
 
 Did you know?
 In ancient Rome, voting at legal assemblies was done by group, with the majority in a group determining the vote. The word for the group chosen to vote first on an issue was praerogātīva, a noun rooted in the Latin verb rogāre, "to ask; to ask an assembly for a decision." When English adopted prerogative from Latin, via Anglo-French, in the 15th century, it took only the idea of the privilege the ancient Roman voting group enjoyed; the English word referred then, as it also does now, to an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege. Often such a prerogative is tied to an office, official body, or nation, but as Bobby Brown reminded us in his 1988 song "My Prerogative," the right to live as you like can also be referred to as a prerogative.

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