royalty Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun payment to the holder of a patent or copyright or resource for the right to use their property
- he received royalties on his book
noun royal persons collectively
royal family; royal line; royal house.
- the wedding was attended by royalty

OF. roialté, royaulté, F. royauté. See Royal, and cf. Regality.

plural Royalties

The state of being royal; the condition or quality of a royal person; kingship; kingly office; sovereignty.
Royalty by birth was the sweetest way of majesty. Holyday.
The person of a king or sovereign; majesty; as, in the presence of royalty.
For thus his royalty doth speak. Shak.
An emblem of royalty; -- usually in the plural, meaning regalia. Obs.
Wherefore do I assume These royalties, and not refuse to reign? Milton.
Kingliness; spirit of regal authority.
In his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be fear'd. Shak.
Domain; province; sphere. Sir W. Scott.
That which is due to a sovereign, as a seigniorage on gold and silver coined at the mint, metals taken from mines, etc.; the tax exacted in lieu of such share; imperiality.
A share of the product or profit (as of a mine, forest, etc.), reserved by the owner for permitting another to use the property.
Hence (Com.), a duty paid by a manufacturer to the owner of a patent or a copyright at a certain rate for each article manufactured; or, a percentage paid to the owner of an article by one who hires the use of it.