palatial
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of palatial
Explanation
Knowing that the adjective palatial is derived from the same Latin word as palace gives you a good sense of its meaning: magnificent, reminiscent of a home fit for a king. The Palatine (Collis Palatium in Latin) is the center of Rome’s famed Seven Hills. Tradition holds that it was the location on which Romulus founded the city, and it became a prestigious site for powerful Romans—including emperors—to build large, lavish homes. Palatium made its way into every Romance language and beyond: it became palazzo in Italian, palacio in Spanish, and palast in German. Palace entered English via the Old French palais. Power, affluence, extravagance: these are the qualities that should come to mind when you encounter the word palatial.
Vocabulary lists containing palatial
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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The Glass Castle
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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.
The Culture Gabfest: Palatial Kitsch Edition 's podcast about the film Before Midnight, HBO’s Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, and character likability in literature.
From Slate • May 29, 2013
Palatial on a scale that few other productions achieve, coloured in an opulent palette of black, gold and blue, these sets and costumes resonate powerfully with the magisterial architecture of Petipa's choreography.
From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2010
Palatial homes whose scale is limited only by the owners' taste and imagination are rising in their place.
From Time Magazine Archive
It should be advertised "The Iniquities of the Fathers, an American drama of Eugenics, in a Palatial Setting."
From The Art of the Moving Picture by Lindsay, Vachel
About half-past ten on the morning following her interview with Hans Coetzee, Jess was at "The Palatial" as usual, and John was just finishing packing the cart with such few goods as they possessed.
From Jess by Haggard, Henry Rider
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.
