palace
Americannoun
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palaces
plural
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the official residence of a king, queen, bishop, or other sovereign or exalted personage.
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a large and stately mansion or building.
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a large and usually ornate place for entertainment, exhibitions, etc.
noun
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the official residence of a reigning monarch or member of a royal family
Buckingham Palace
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the official residence of various high-ranking church dignitaries or members of the nobility, as of an archbishop
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a large and richly furnished building resembling a royal palace
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of palace
1200–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin palācium, spelling variant of palātium, Latin: generic use of Palātium name of the hill in Rome on which the emperor's palace was situated; replacing Middle English paleis < Old French ≪ Latin Palātium
Explanation
A palace is a beautiful, large house where someone important, like a king, lives. Have you ever seen Buckingham Palace? That's where the Queen of England lives, and it's an enormous, ornate, heavily guarded building, which is typical of palaces. Palaces are lavish and over-the-top, because they are usually the home of a ruler such as a king, queen, or dictator. If you don’t live like a king, take comfort in this quote from the English poet John Donne: “Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy jail.”
Vocabulary lists containing palace
"Return to Titanic" and "Talking with Robert Ballard"
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Unit 13
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 4–June 10, 2022
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also remarked on the "powerful and moving experience" of seeing thousands of Norwegians gather outside the royal palace in the capital Oslo with "flowers, tributes and candles".
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
European monarchs and world leaders paid tribute Friday to Norway's King Harald, after the royal palace announced his death at the age of 89.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who laid flowers outside the palace and signed a book of condolences after greeting the new king, said the country was "united in grief and gratitude".
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
By the end of the day, the Taliban had overrun the presidential palace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Before Jack could even open his mouth to respond, the tornadoes began to slowly pull away from each other, separating enough to open the way into the palace.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
The city had no known palaces where a ruler or ruling class could have controlled these tools of commerce and administration.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
As the quiet counterparts to ocean liners, river cruises offer a world of classical pianists over thumping bass, Gothic palaces over Bahamian private islands, and fine Barolo instead of margaritas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Beijing has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building sports stadiums, presidential palaces, hospitals and roads in Pacific island nations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The National Audit Office recently revealed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, were not working royals but had properties in royal palaces.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
A mighty earthen ramp had been raised amid the grass palaces, and there Dany was seated beside Khal Drogo, above the seething sea of Dothraki.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
