roy·al·ty

[roi-uhl-tee]
noun, plural roy·al·ties.
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.
royalties, Archaic. 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.
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.
8.
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.
9.
a royal right, as over minerals, granted by a sovereign to a person or corporation.
10.
the payment made for such a right.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English roialte < Old French. See royal, -ty2

non·roy·al·ty, noun, plural non·roy·al·ties.
pre·roy·al·ty, noun, plural pre·roy·al·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To Royalty
00:10
Royalty is always a great word to know.
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an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
royalty (ˈrɔɪəltɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ties
1.  the rank, power, or position of a king or queen
2.  a.  royal persons collectively
 b.  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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

royalty
late 14c., "office or position of a sovereign," from O.Fr. roialte, from V.L. *regalitatem (nom. *regalitas), from L. regalis (see royal). Sense of "prerogatives or rights granted by a sovereign to an individual or corporation" is from late 15c. From that evolved more general
senses, such as "payment to a landowner for use of a mine" (1839), and ultimately "payment to an author, composer, etc." for sale or use of his or her work (1857).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

royalty definition


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.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

royalty

in law, the payment made to the owners of certain types of rights by those who are permitted by the owners to exercise the rights. The rights concerned are literary, musical, and artistic copyright; patent rights in inventions and designs; and rights in mineral deposits, including oil and natural gas. The term originated from the fact that in Great Britain for centuries gold and silver mines were the property of the crown; such "royal" metals could be mined only if a payment ("royalty") were made to the crown

Learn more about royalty with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
However, the tradition of nobility and royalty was based upon the same.
The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
The populace lines up on the main thoroughfare to watch hours of marching bands, homemade floats and home-crowned royalty.
Songwriters and music publishers get royalty payments, but musicians and record companies do not.
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