palace

noun pal·ace \ ˈpa-ləs \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of palace

1 a : the official residence of a chief of state (such as a monarch or a president)

b chiefly British : the official residence of an archbishop or bishop

2 a : a large stately house

b : a large public building

c : a highly decorated place for public amusement or refreshment

a movie palace

See palace defined for English-language learners

See palace defined for kids

Examples of palace in a Sentence

The town's old movie palace has been torn down.
the billionaire's “summer cottage” turned out to be an over-the-top palace

Recent Examples of palace from the Web

The excursion begins in St. Petersburg with a visit to the Hermitage Museum and Peterhof, built by Peter the Great to rival Versailles, as well as a private concert at the palace of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

— anne harnagel, latimes.com, "Russia fall tour will school you on foreign policy and history," 29 Mar. 2018
Maykel last met with MBS on Christmas Day, 2017, at the palace occupied by his father, King Salman.

— shawn tully, Fortune, "MBS in the USA: 3 Messages From the Saudi Prince to U.S. Business Leaders," 21 Mar. 2018
Differences, including over risk-sharing within the euro area, remained on the table as the two leaders met at the Elysee presidential palace.

— gregory viscusi, Bloomberg.com, "Macron, Merkel Pledge Push to Settle Euro Differences by June," 16 Mar. 2018
Also, swinging around a several-foot long wooden mallet is not exactly a day at the palace.

— PEOPLE.com, "We Tried It: Learning to Play Polo at Prince William and Prince Harry's Polo Club," 23 Feb. 2018
The Wakandans never trusted, embraced or fully accepted Agent Ross; he was caught up in a palace coup and proved to be useful.

— jason johnson, The Root, "Killmonger Was Wrong, and Ya’ll Know It," 19 Feb. 2018
But the moment Mr Macron was elected, members of his young campaign team disappeared to jobs in government or at the Elysée presidential palace.

— The Economist, "En Marche! What for?The movement that Emmanuel Macron rode to power needs a new role," 18 Jan. 2018
The story goes that Ciano arrived at the royal palace and sought out the Queen’s Suite, with its birthing room.

— jay nordlinger, National Review, "Good King Michael," 16 Jan. 2018
Sheikh Abdullah’s grandfather, father and brother were rulers of Qatar until a palace coup ousted his branch of the ruling family in 1972.

— jon gambrell, The Seattle Times, "Qatar exile says he’s held by UAE; Abu Dhabi denies claim," 14 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'palace.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of palace

Middle English palais, from Anglo-French, from Latin palatium, from Palatium, the Palatine Hill in Rome where the emperors' residences were built

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year