[roy.al.ty] n, pl -ties [ME roialte, fr. MF roialte, fr. OF, fr. roial] (14c) 1 a: royal status or power: sovereignty b: a right or perquisite of a sovereign (as a percentage paid to the crown of gold or silver taken from mines)
2: regal character or bearing: nobility 3 a: persons of royal lineage b: a person of royal rank "how to address royalties --George Santayana" c: a privileged class
4: a right of jurisdiction granted to an individual or corporation by a sovereign
5. a: a share of the product or profit reserved by the grantor esp. of an oil or mining lease b: a payment made to an author or composer for each copy of a work sold or to an inventor for each article sold under a patent