regal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈriɡl/ UK /ˈriːɡl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
of, resembling, or fit for a monarch; majestic

She entered the hall with regal poise.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of, resembling, or fit for... royal majestic kingly stately imperial princely sovereign

Opposites

common lowly plebeian humble

Word family

Derived forms regallyregality

Related forms regalia reign royalrex

Simplified etymology

Regal ultimately derives from Latin regere, “to govern or rule.” It has meant “like a ruler” since late Middle English.

Etymology

From Latin regalis ('royal, kingly'), from rex ('king'), from regere ('to rule, direct'), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ('to straighten, rule').

regalis Latin rex Latin *h₃reǵ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# regal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈriɡl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈriːɡl/

## Meanings
1. of, resembling, or fit for a monarch; majestic

## Examples
- She entered the hall with regal poise.

## Synonyms
- royal
- majestic
- kingly
- stately
- imperial
- princely
- sovereign

## Antonyms
- common
- lowly
- plebeian
- humble

## Derived Forms
- regally
- regality

## Related Forms
- regalia
- reign
- royal
- rex

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: regalis
- Root: rex
- Root: *h₃reǵ-

## Etymology
From Latin regalis ('royal, kingly'), from rex ('king'), from regere ('to rule, direct'), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ('to straighten, rule').

## AI Etymology
Regal comes from Latin regalis ('royal, kingly'), from rex ('king'), from regere ('to rule, direct'), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ('to straighten, rule'). The historical chain includes Latin regalis, Latin rex, and Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-. The quoted older senses, "royal, kingly", "king", "to rule, direct", and "to straighten, rule", supply the semantic anchors for regal. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word regal carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "of, resembling, or fit for a monarch; majestic". English derivatives include regally and regality; related English forms include regalia, reign, royal, and rex. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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