royalty

noun roy·al·ty \ ˈrȯi(-ə)l-tē \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Examples: royalty in a Sentence

Definition of royalty

plural royalties

1 a : 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

3 a : 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

5 a : 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

See royalty defined for English-language learners

See royalty defined for kids

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 of royalty from the Web

An article on Friday about a federal appeals court’s decision in a case regarding California’s royalty laws described incorrectly a provision involving a 90-day grace period.

— New York Times, "Corrections: July 14, 2018," 13 July 2018
Jeff Brohm is both football royalty in Louisville and one of college football's top coaches on the rise.

— courier journal, The Courier-Journal, "LIVE AT 2 PM: Purdue coach and Louisville football royalty Jeff Brohm," 11 July 2018
The sale is expected to close Friday, but claims asserted by several Hollywood stars who say they are owed royalties and profit participation payments from various film and television projects will be resolved later.

— Washington Post, "Judge approves revised Weinstein Co. bankruptcy sale plan," 11 July 2018
Davidson sued, arguing that he was owed royalties for unauthorized use of an image of his statue.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp," 6 July 2018
The fund uses royalties paid by energy companies that drill on the Outer Continental Shelf to protect natural resources.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Senate Kills Trump’s Phony ‘Spending Clawback’ Bill," 20 June 2018
Her Fish Story: If bass fishing has royalty, Hays is it.

— brendan leonard, Outside Online, "20 Things That Take Longer Than the Nose Ascent," 18 June 2018
Fifty years ago today, Houston's Astrodome was home to baseball royalty.

— matt young, Houston Chronicle, "Look back at the Astrodome's All-Star Game 50 years ago," 10 July 2018
Born to gospel-music royalty, a child prodigy whose voice and graceful demeanor propelled her into superstar status as pop’s reigning diva, Houston ultimately died alone in a bathtub at 48, after years of abusing cocaine.

— ann hornaday, kansascity, "New Whitney Houston documentary transcends the rise-and-fall formula," 5 July 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.

Origin and Etymology of royalty

Middle English roialte, from Anglo-French realté, roialté, from real

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

royalty Synonyms

Synonyms

aristocracy, best, choice, cream, crème de la crème, elect, elite, fat, flower, pick, pride, prime, upper crust;

Near Antonyms

commoners, herd, hoi polloi, masses, millions, mob, multitude, rank and file, unwashed;

Phrases

cream of the crop, Hall of Fame;

ROYALTY Defined for English Language Learners

royalty

noun

Definition of royalty for English Language Learners

: members of a royal family
: an amount of money that is paid to the original creator of a product, book, or piece of music based on how many copies have been sold
: an amount of money that is paid by a mining or oil company to the owner of the land the company is using