Definition of: royalty

(roi′əl·tē) noun plural ·ties
1. Royal rank, birth, or lineage; kingly nature or quality; kingliness; regal authority; sovereignty.
2. A royal personage; royal persons collectively.
3. A share of proceeds paid to a proprietor, author, or inventor, by those doing business under some right belonging to him.
4. A tax or seigniorage paid to the crown on the produce of royal mines, or on gold and silver coinage.
5. A royal possession or domain; hence, domain or province in general. [<OF roialté]