regalia

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. Doublet of regal.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈɡeɪ.li.ə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈɡæɪ.li.ə/
• Rhymes: -eɪliə

Noun

regalia pl (plural only)

1. Royal rights, prerogatives and privileges actually enjoyed by any sovereign, regardless of his title (emperor, grand duke etc.).
2. The emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royalty or any other sovereign status; such as a crown, orb, sceptre or sword.
   • 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:

     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.

3. Decorations or insignia indicative of an office or membership of an order or society; such as freemasonry.
4. Traditional dress and accessories of North American Indigenous nations worn for ritual purposes.
5. (by extension) Finery, magnificent dress, or lavish or flashy costume.

   to be dressed in full regalia (dressed up)

   • 2009 January 21, Francis X. Clines, “In Washington on Inauguration Day”, in The New York Times‎:

     […] the throngs included tribes of American Indians celebrating […] like victorious conventioneers in their burnished regalia at a hotel party Monday night.

6. (by extension, obsolete) Sumptuous food.

   Synonym: delicacies

   • 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

Noun

regalia (plural regalias)

1. (archaic) A kind of large cigar of superior quality.
   • 1840, Isaac Butt, Irish Life, page 294:

     I have taken care that there's both brandy and whiskey nicely stowed away in the barrack-room, with plenty of prime regalia cigars […]

   • 1850, United States. Congress, Congressional Edition: Volume 552, page 868:

     The quantity of regalias imported into northern ports is comparatively small.

Anagrams

• Algeria, lairage