Roy'al-ty, n.

n. [O. Fr. roialté, royaulté, N. Fr. royauté.] 1. The state of being royal; the condition or quality of a royal person; kingship; kingly office. Royalty by birth was the sweetest way of majesty. Holyday.

2. The person of a king or sovereign; majesty; as, in the presence of royalty. “For thus his royalty doth speak.” Shak.
3. An emblem of royalty; regalia; — usually in the plural. [Obs.]

Wherefore do I assume Their royalties, and not refuse to reign? Milton. 4. That which pertains to a king as his right; prerogative. In his royalty of nature reigns that Which would be feared. Shak. 5. Hence, kingdom; domain; jurisdiction; province; sphere. The vast and inexhaustible variety of knavery, folly, affectation, humor, &c., &c., as mingled with each other, or as modified by difference of age, sex, temper, education, profession, and habit of body, are all within the royalty of the modern comic dramatist. . . . The ancients were much more limited in their circle of materials. W. Scott.

6. A tax or duty paid to the crown or government, as on the produce of a mine. See IMPERIALTY.
7. Hence (Com.), a duty paid by one who uses the patent of another, 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.