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

But with such footballing royalty back in the big time, where can you find Europe's current sleeping giants?

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 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 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

The principle pleasure of these audiences, says Dr. Trefusis, lies in referring to royalty without either revealing or denying the closeness of his connection, viz.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

The growth was due to higher order volumes, food basket pricing to stores, and global franchise royalties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Despite being rubbished by many critics, it sold well in the US and then in Britain, earning Archer a considerable sum in royalties.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

In July, a Munich court ruled against Suno in a case brought by GEMA, which collects royalties for German songwriters and publishers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

The president-elect, I learned, is given access to $100,000 in federal funds to help with moving and redecorating, but Barack insisted that we pay for everything ourselves, using what we’d saved from his book royalties.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• fee
• payment
• percentage
• portion
• share

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