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royal

roy·al/ˈɹɔɪ̯.əl/adjective, noun

royal is spelled R-O-Y-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables (roy·al). It appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, royal means “Of or relating to a monarch or his (or her) family” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in royal?

Letters5: R-O-Y-A-L
Syllables2: roy·al
In writing71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is royal?

Royal appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce royal?

  • /ˈɹɔɪ̯.əl/
  • [ˈɹʷɔɪ̯.əl] ~ [ˈɹʷɔɪ̯.l̩]
  • /ˈɹɔ.jəl/

Royal has 2 syllables, split roy·al in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-royal.wav, En-us-royal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of royal

  • royaler comparative
  • royaller comparative
  • royalest superlative
  • royallest superlative
  • r.
  • royals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does royal mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of or relating to a monarch or his (or her) family.

  2. 2

    Having the air or demeanour of a monarch; illustrious; magnanimous; of more than common size or excellence.

  3. 3

    In large sailing ships, of a mast right above the topgallant mast and its sails.

    royal mast;  royal sail

  4. 4

    Free-for-all, especially involving multiple combatants.

  5. 5

    informalUsed as an intensifier.

    a royal pain in the neck

  6. 6

    Describing a piece which, if captured, results in loss of game.

    Maharajah and the Sepoys pits a single royal amazon for white against a standard chess army for black.

noun

  1. 1

    informalA royal person; a member of a royal family.

  2. 2

    A standard size of printing paper, measuring 25 by 20 inches.

  3. 3

    A standard size of writing paper, measuring 24 by 19 inches.

  4. 4

    datedThe Australian decimal currency intended to replace the pound in 1966; was changed to "dollar" before it was actually circulated.

  5. 5

    Any of various lycaenid butterflies.

  6. 6

    The fourth tine of an antler's beam.

  7. 7

    A stag with twelve points (six on each antler).

  8. 8

    In large sailing ships, square sail over the topgallant sail.

noun

as Royal
  1. 1

    someone connected with Reading Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

  2. 2

    UKA member of the first regiment of foot in the British army.

adjective

as Royal
  1. 1

    Alternative form of royal (in capitalised proper nouns, e.g. Royal Navy, Royal Mail)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate royal?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of royal: r..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Royal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchroyal, royale (of or relating to a monarch or his family), trochure (fourth tine of an antler's beam), cacatois (nautical: a sail)
Germanköniglich (of or relating to a monarch or his family), Royalsegel (nautical: a sail), Royal (royal person)
Portuguesereal (of or relating to a monarch or his family)
Spanishreal (nautical: a sail)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does royal come from?

From Middle English royal, from Old French roial (Modern French royal), from Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal (“befitting a king”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real, Italian reale, Catalan reial. Displaced native Old English cynelīċ.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after royal