English Explanatory Dictionary

regal

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Of, pertaining to, or suitable for royalty.
  2. Befitting a monarch.
  3. Befitting a king or emperor.
noun
  1. A small, portable organ whose sound is produced by brass beating reeds without amplifying resonators. Its tone is keen and rich in harmonics. The regal was common in the 16th and 17th centuries, and has been revived for the performance of music from those times.
  2. An organ stop of the reed family, furnished with a normal beating reed, but whose resonator is a fraction of its natural length. In the 16th and 17th centuries these stops took a multitude of forms. Today only one survives that is of universal currency, the so-called vox humana.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹiːɡəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-regal.wav

Word forms

regal more regal most regal regall regals rigole

Etymology

From Middle English regal, from Old French regal (“regal, royal”), from Latin rēgālis (“royal, kingly”), from rex (“king”); also regere (“to rule”). Doublet of royal (“belonging to a monarch”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real.

Related words

regime regimen regular kingly royal splendid stately

Derived words

interregal regal fritillary regal geranium regal horned lizard regalism regalist regality regally regal moth regalness regal purple regal sea goddess superregal unregal viceregal
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