Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Royal in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels royal as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Royal

[OE. roial, riall, real, OF. roial. reial, F. royal, fr. L. regalis, fr. rex, regis, king. See Rich, and cf. regal, real a coin, Rial.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordroyal
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[OE. roial, riall, real, OF. roial. reial, F. royal, fr. L. regalis, fr. rex, regis, king. See Rich, and cf. regal, real a coin, Rial.]
Selected historical definitionKingly; pertaining to the crown or the sovereign; suitable for a king or queen; regal; as, royal power or prerogative; royal domains; the royal family; royal state.
Signed record IDwebster1913-royal-adjective-3608f03a43fc
Source locatorCIDE.R, paragraph 10351; Gutenberg eBook 667
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 667Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "royal" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. roial, riall, real, OF. roial. reial, F. royal, fr. L. regalis, fr. rex, regis, king. See Rich, and cf. regal, real a coin, Rial.]" The selected historical definition says: "Kingly; pertaining to the crown or the sovereign; suitable for a king or queen; regal; as, royal power or prerogative; royal domains; the royal family; royal state."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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[Pref. re- + search: cf. OF. recerchier, F. rechercher.]

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[OF. remebrer, L. rememorari; pref. re- re- + memorare to bring to remembrance, from memor mindful. See Memory, and cf. Rememorate.]

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Report

[Cf. F. rapport. See Report.v. t.]

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Reason

[Cf. F. raisonner. See Reason, n.]

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