royal
Adjectiveroyaler, royaller, royalest, royallest
Noun pluralroyals
Formsroyaler, royaller, royalest, royallest
Pluralroyals
- 1Belonging to or connected with a monarch or members of the monarch's family.
The royal procession moved slowly through the crowded city streets.
Parliament approved the royal household's budget for the coming year.
Usageroyal says whose something is: the royal family, the royal chef. regal usually says what it is like: a regal manner.
Similarmonarchical
- 2A member of a monarch's family, or a person of royal rank.
A young royal cut the ribbon at the new hospital wing.
The tabloids follow nearly every move the royals make.
UsageOften plural: the royals for the whole family. In formal writing, a member of the royal family is the safer choice.
Oppositecommoner
- 3Having the grandeur or bearing of a monarch; splendid, magnificent, or greater than common in size or excellence.
The champion received a royal welcome from thousands of cheering fans.
He treated his guests to a royal banquet that lasted late into the night.
UsageMostly before nouns of welcome and plenty: a royal welcome, a royal feast, royal treatment.
Similarsplendid, magnificent, grand, lavish, regal
Note
Here the king is a measure, not an owner: anyone or anything can be royal if it is grand, generous or outsized. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice calls Antonio, a merchant, "that royal Merchant," praising his largeness of spirit, not his birth. This figurative use overlaps with its doublet regal.
- 4Describing a contest or fight that is a free-for-all, especially one involving many combatants at the same time.
The promotion's main event was a battle royal featuring thirty competitors.
Once the cavalry broke through both lines, the skirmish turned into a battle royal across the whole field.
UsageAlmost always in battle royal, where it comes after the noun.
Less common meanings
- 5Used to strengthen another term, emphasizing how complete or extreme something is.
The whole trip turned into a royal disaster after the car broke down.
She was in a royal temper when she heard about the last-minute change.
UsageMost common in a royal pain and a royal mess, but it can strengthen other nouns too: a royal disaster.
- 6The proposed name for Australia's decimal currency in 1966, replaced by dollar before any was circulated.
The Reserve Bank printed trial notes in royals before the name was dropped in 1963.
A single royal would have been worth ten shillings under the proposed scheme.
Note
A currency that never left the drawing board. Australia chose royal for its new decimal unit ahead of 1966, then switched to dollar before any money circulated, so the word now has a dated, historical ring. It joins a family of money words. The Latin rēgālis behind royal also gave English real, riyal and ariary, and an old English gold coin was called a royal, or rial.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 9 facts
- Australia selected royal as the name of its planned decimal currency before 1966. museum.rba.gov.au
- The name was changed to dollar before the decimal currency entered circulation. museum.rba.gov.au
- The decimal currency was introduced in 1966. ramint.gov.au
- The proposed royal currency never entered circulation. museum.rba.gov.au
- Royal ultimately derives from Latin rēgālis. en.wiktionary.org
- The currency word real ultimately derives from the same Latin word. en.wiktionary.org
- Riyal shares the same ultimate origin as royal and real. en.wiktionary.org
- Ariary shares that ultimate origin, through Malagasy and Arabic. en.wiktionary.org
- An old English gold coin was called royal or rial. en.wiktionary.org
- 7Designating a game piece whose checkmate, or capture in some variants, loses the game, as with the king in chess.
- 8A traditional standard size of paper, about 25 by 20 inches for printing paper and 24 by 19 inches for writing paper.
- 9Any of various butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
- 10A stag whose antlers carry twelve points in all, six on each side.
- 11The fourth tine growing along the main beam of an antler.
- 12In large sailing ships, designating the mast positioned just above the topgallant mast, and the sails it carries.
- 13A square sail set immediately above the topgallant sail on a large sailing ship.
- 14A gold coin once used in England, known also as the rial.
- 15In auction bridge, a spade played as the highest-scoring suit.
- 16A small type of mortar, a short-barreled weapon that lobs shells in a high arc.
- 17A small tuft of beard worn on the chin just below the lower lip.
- 18In change ringing, a sequence of changes rung on ten bells.
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Origin
From Middle English royal, from Old French roial, from Latin rēgālis, from rēx ("king"). It is a doublet of regal, real, ariary, and riyal, and it replaced the native Old English cynelīċ.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Royal comes from Middle English royal, from Old French roial, from Latin rēgālis, from rēx meaning king. en.wiktionary.org
- Royal is a doublet of regal, real (the currency word), ariary, and riyal. en.wiktionary.org
- Royal displaced the native Old English word cynelīċ. en.wiktionary.org