Dictionary

regalia en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɹɪˈɡæɪ.li.ə/ (Australia)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɹɪˈɡeɪ.li.ə/ (Canada, UK, US)

Etymology

From Middle English regalie, from Medieval Latin rēgālia (“royal powers”), substantivisation of the neuter plural of rēgālis (“of a king”), from rēx (“king”). By surface analysis, regal + -ia.

Meanings

1. (plural, plural-only) Royal rights, prerogatives and privileges actually enjoyed by any sovereign, regardless of his title (emperor, grand duke etc.).
2. (archaic) A kind of large cigar of superior quality.
   • The quantity of regalias imported into northern ports is comparatively small. 1850, United States. Congress, Congressional Edition: Volume 552, page 868:
   • I have taken care that there's both brandy and whiskey nicely stowed away in the barrack-room, with plenty of prime regalia cigars[…] 1840, Isaac Butt, Irish Life, page 294:
3. (plural, plural-only) The emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royalty or any other sovereign status; such as a crown, orb, sceptre or sword.
   • THE INTHRONIZATION. The King ascended the Theatre, accompanied by the two Bishops his Supporters, the Great Officers of State, the Lords carrying the Swords, and the Lords who had borne Their Majesties' Regalia, and was Inthroned by the Archbishops, Bishops, and the other Peers, who then stood about the steps of the Throne. 1937 November 10, “Ceremonial of the Coronation of Their Majesties [King George VI and his wife Elizabeth, Westminster Abbey, London, 12 May 1937]”, in The London Gazette (Supplement), number 34453, page 7031 at 7056:
4. (plural, plural-only) Decorations or insignia indicative of an office or membership of an order or society; such as freemasonry.
5. (plural, plural-only) Traditional dress and accessories of North American Indigenous nations worn for ritual purposes.
6. (broadly, plural, plural-only) Finery, magnificent dress, or lavish or flashy costume.
   • to be dressed in full regalia (dressed up)
   • […] the throngs included tribes of American Indians celebrating […] like victorious conventioneers in their burnished regalia at a hotel party Monday night. 2009 January 21, Francis X. Clines, “In Washington on Inauguration Day”, in The New York Times:
7. (broadly, obsolete, plural, plural-only) Sumptuous food.
   • c. 1685-1686, Charles Cotton, the Essays of M. de Montaigne After having a long time treated their Prisoners very well, and given them all the Regalia's they can think of, he to whom the Prisoner belongs, invites a great Assembly of his Kindred and Friends

Forms

Deriveds

regalia minora · regalia majora

Relateds

royalty · Crown Jewels · regal

Synonyms

delicacies

Translations (26)

fi valtaoikeudet (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · sv regalier (decoration or insignia of an office) · cmn 徽章 (decoration or insignia of an office) · fr regalia (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · de Ornat (decoration or insignia of an office) · pt regalias (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · cmn 官章 (decoration or insignia of an office) · de Regalien (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · de Insignien (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · sv regalier (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · cmn 禮服 /礼服 (finery) · de Hoheitsrechte (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · fi loisto (finery) · es regalía (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · cmn 御物 (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · gl regalía (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · fi tunnukset (decoration or insignia of an office) · pl regalia (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · fi arvonmerkit (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · ru рега́лии (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · cmn 王權 /王权 (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · fi etuoikeudet (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · fi regaalit (emblems, symbols or paraphernalia) · ru рега́лии (decoration or insignia of an office) · bg царски права (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges) · pl regalia (royal rights, prerogatives and privileges)