Definition of "royal" []

• Of or relating to a monarch. (adjective)
• Of the rank of a monarch. (adjective)
• Of, relating to, or in the service of a kingdom. (adjective)
• Issued or performed by a monarch: a royal warrant; a royal visit. (adjective)
• Founded, chartered, or authorized by a monarch: a royal society of musicians. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "People suppose a family to be royal because it reigns; on the contrary, it reigns because it is royal, because it has more life, _plus d'esprit royal_ -- surely as mysterious and occult a force as the _virtus dormitiva_ of opium."
• "At the very top I offer the conjecture towards the solution of that mystery which constantly bewilders the republican witness, the mystery of loyalty -- is, of course, the royal family; and the rash conclusion of the American is that it is revered because it is the _royal_ family."
• "The royal party, with the king or his representatives at its head, is the _royal cause_."