royalty: Meaning and Definition of

roy•al•ty

Pronunciation: (roi'ul-tē), [key]
— pl. -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. 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.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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