royalty

[ roi-uhl-tee ]

noun

, plural roy·al·ties.

1. royal persons collectively.
2. royal status, dignity, or power; sovereignty:

   to be elevated to royalty.

3. a person of royal lineage; member of a royal family.
4. royalties, Archaic. prerogatives, rights, or symbolic emblems of a king, queen, or other sovereign.
5. a royal domain; kingdom; realm.
6. character or quality proper to or befitting a sovereign; nobility.
7. the most well-known and admired member or members of a particular field or category:

   Her parents are Hollywood royalty. The brand is royalty among champagnes.

8. a compensation or portion of the proceeds paid to the owner of a right, as a patent or oil or mineral right, for the use of it.
9. an agreed portion of the income from a work paid to its author, composer, etc., usually a percentage of the retail price of each copy sold.
10. a royal right, as over minerals, granted by a sovereign to a person or corporation.
11. the payment made for such a right.

royalty

/ ˈrɔɪəltɪ /

noun

1. the rank, power, or position of a king or queen
2. 1. royal persons collectively
   2. one who belongs to the royal family
3. any quality characteristic of a monarch; kingliness or regal dignity
4. a percentage of the revenue from the sale of a book, performance of a theatrical work, use of a patented invention or of land, etc, paid to the author, inventor, or proprietor

royalty

1. A payment made for some right or privilege, as when a publisher pays a royalty to an author for the author's granting the publisher the right to sell the author's book.

Other Words From

• non·royal·ty noun plural nonroyalties
• pre·royal·ty noun plural preroyalties

Word History and Origins

Origin of royalty¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English roialte, from Middle French, Old French roialté, derivative of roial; royal, -ty ²

Example Sentences

Weissman is not one of them, though he stands to get patent royalties.

From MIT Technology Review

There’s a cohort in the country that only knows the Gonzaga Bulldogs as college basketball royalty.

From FiveThirtyEight

Once a menu is launched, it is produced by JustKitchen instead of the brands, which are paid royalties.

From TechCrunch

This year’s struggles have served to highlight concerns over streaming royalties.

From TechCrunch

A multitude of manual processes and siloed systems meant that developers and publishers couldn’t link complex calculations for royalties to the underlying data.

From MIT Technology Review

At the time, Valli was in Europe, married to a fascist type who was minor-order royalty.

From The Daily Beast

He is as well-connected with rock stars as he is with royalty.

From The Daily Beast

The auctioneer talks about knowing and employing royalty, and celebrity big spenders.

From The Daily Beast

Sure, there was top royalty (Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles) and a former Prime Minister (John Major).

From The Daily Beast

The Afghanistan artist who designed the cards receives a royalty on all packages sold.

From The Daily Beast

Some affirm that he wrote to please royalty, but if so why did he not condemn the custom to appease the wrath of a sapient king.

From Project Gutenberg

By their agreement with the owner, the Company have the right of mining under an area of 185 acres, at a royalty of 6d.

From Project Gutenberg

He did this to signalise his disapprobation of royalty, and his preference for democratic equality.

From Project Gutenberg

Deputations to royalty had no effect in staying the change, and thousands were thrown on the parish.

From Project Gutenberg

It is now a city of fifty thousand and dates its rise from the patronage of royalty a century and a half ago.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fee
• payment
• percentage
• portion
• share