royalty

noun

roy·al·ty | \ ˈrȯi(-ə)l-tē

plural royalties

Definition of royalty

1a : royal status or power : sovereignty

b : a right or perquisite of a sovereign (such as a percentage paid to the crown of gold or silver taken from mines)

2 : regal character or bearing : nobility

3a : persons of royal lineage

b : a person of royal rank how to address royalties— George Santayana

c : an elite class

4 : a right of jurisdiction granted to an individual or corporation by a sovereign

5a : a share of the product or profit reserved by the grantor especially of an oil or mining lease

b : a payment to an author or composer for each copy of a work sold or to an inventor for each item sold under a patent

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Examples of royalty in a Sentence

It was an honor and a privilege to dine with royalty. On our wedding day, we were treated like royalty.

Recent Examples on the Web

Her statement did not note whether the Okadas will receive royalties. — Chris Fuchs, NBC News, "Penguin Classics edition of Japanese American novel 'No-No Boy' sparks copyright dispute," 7 June 2019 Your dreams of living like royalty are about to come true—well, sort of. — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "So, You Could Be Neighbors With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle," 20 May 2019 Everyone dreams of stepping onto the carpet at the Met Gala looking like royalty, and Adwoa Aboah figured out exactly how to do just that this past Monday. — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, "Adwoa Aboah Was Queen for a Night at the Met Gala," 8 May 2019 Mother's Day might be just around the corner, but moms should be treated like royalty every day. — Stacia Affelt, Good Housekeeping, "You Won't Believe This Mom's Incredible Head-to-Toe Makeover," 9 Apr. 2019 Amal aptly dressed like royalty for the occasion, donning a flowing white William Vintage Jean-Louis Scherrer by Stephane Rolland dress, from the designer's Spring 2007 collection. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Amal Clooney Just Wore the Coolest One-Shoulder Jumpsuit on the Red Carpet," 14 Mar. 2019 Most writers, for example, receive royalties from book sales in perpetuity. — Gaby Del Valle, Vox, "Why is art so expensive?," 31 Oct. 2018 This was a bold move that largely precludes Redmond from asserting its > patents against Android and should mean that the company will no longer > receive royalties from smartphone manufacturers. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "GitHub is now officially a part of Microsoft," 26 Oct. 2018 Songwriters and artists will now receive royalties on songs recorded before 1972; the law will improve how songwriters are paid by streaming services, with a single mechanical licensing database overseen by music publishers and songwriters. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Silicon Valley may have a Saudi Arabia problem," 12 Oct. 2018

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