royalty
noun
roy·al·ty
ˈrȯi(-ə)l-tē 
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
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
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
Raising Costs to Drill: The Biden administration raised the royalty rates that fossil fuel companies pay the government in order to drill and mine on public lands, the first time since 1920 that those fees have increased.
—Coral Davenport, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2024
With 35,000 copies sold, spread out over 15 years, and with royalties paid out in a manner that would have elicited a fist pump from Ebenezer Scrooge, the income couldn’t support someone even as scrimping as Perlin.
—Eugene Linden, TIME, 21 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for royalty 
Coral Davenport, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2024
With 35,000 copies sold, spread out over 15 years, and with royalties paid out in a manner that would have elicited a fist pump from Ebenezer Scrooge, the income couldn’t support someone even as scrimping as Perlin.
—Eugene Linden, TIME, 21 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for royalty
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'royalty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Royalty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/royalty. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
royalty
noun
roy·al·ty
ˈrȯi(-ə)l-tē
plural royalties
1
: royal status or power
2
: royal character or conduct
3
: members of a royal family
4
a
: a share of a product or profit (as of a mine) claimed by the owner for allowing another to use the property
b
: a payment made to the owner of a patent or copyright for the use of it
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