royalty

American  

[roi-uhl-tee] / ˈrɔɪ əl ti /

noun

• royalties
  plural

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. Archaic. royalties, 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.

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royalty British  

/ 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

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royalty Cultural  

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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonroyalty
  noun
• preroyalty
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• royalties
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of royalty

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

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Explanation

Royalty is a good word for describing a family of kings, queens, princes, and princesses. If you are in the music business, you may expect a payment, or royalty every time your song is played. How's that for royal treatment? The noun royalty means a group of royals, or kings and their extended families. Queen Elizabeth of England is a member of Britain's royalty, for example. You can also use royalty to describe the payment a writer receives whenever her book is sold, or that a musician gets when his song is played in a grocery store. The word comes from the Latin regalis, "regal," which in turn comes from rex, "king."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

royalty royalties

That play was Santa Margarita royalty at its best — a Mosley catching a touchdown pass from a Palmer, the son of the head coach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

On Friday night at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, there was a gathering of coaching royalty on the Hart sideline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

The drum of royalty, foretold two generations earlier, is now returning to its bearer.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

The author of ‘Queens and Kings’ on books that unveil the lives of English royalty, from Tudor splendor to Victorian household intrigues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Oh, no! We are far from royalty, and the children and I are no relation.”

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

The site employs local contractors and businesses and pays royalties to over 3,000 people who own mineral rights, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Benzies set up Barb in 2016 - the same year he left Grand Theft Auto maker Rockstar Games after a legal row over unpaid royalties.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

In addition, the agreement provides for low single-digit royalties on future product sales.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Only Ross Cameron, co-founder of Lyric Capital Group, a private equity firm focused on music royalties, housed on four, responded.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

In a tone that suggested she was understating things greatly, she told Dill that he’d be able to buy a few textbooks with the royalties.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

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Related Words

• fee
• payment
• percentage
• portion
• share

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