princely

English

Etymology

From prince +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪnsli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: prince‧ly

Adjective

princely (comparative princelier, superlative princeliest)

1. Relating to a prince; regal; royal.

   princely birth or character

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:

     And when the princely Perſean Diadem,
     Shall ouerweigh his wearie witleſſe head,
     And fall like mellowed fruit, with ſhakes of death,
     In faire Perſea noble Tamburlain
     Shall be my Regent, and remaine as King:

2. Befitting a prince; grand; lavish or opulent.

   No expense was spared in making it a princely residence.

Synonyms

• regal, grand

Derived terms

• princelihood
• princelily
• princeliness
• princely state
• princely sum
• unprinceliness
• unprincely

Translations

relating to a prince

Bulgarian: княжески (knjažeski) Czech: knížecí (cs) m Danish: prinselig Dutch: prinselijk (nl) French: princier (fr) Galician: principesco (gl) German: fürstlich (de) Greek: πριγκιπικός (el) (prigkipikós) Irish: prionsúil Latin: aulicus Manx: prinsoil Polish: książęcy (pl) m Portuguese: principesco m Spanish: principesco, regio (es) Swedish: furstlig (sv)

befitting to a prince

Czech: knížecí (cs) m Danish: fyrstelig Galician: principesco (gl) Hungarian: fejedelmi (hu) Latin: aulicus Manx: prinsoil Polish: książęcy (pl) m Spanish: principesco, regio (es)

Adverb

princely (comparative more princely, superlative most princely)

1. In the manner of a royal prince's conduct.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     […] my appetite was not princely gote, […]

   • 1914, Arthur W. Page, “Little Pictures of O. Henry”, in The Book Man: An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Life, volume XXXVIII, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, chapter IV (The New York Days—Richard Duffy’s Narrative), page 171:

     Oilman Hall and I tried to interest him in noticing Morgan Robertson, who was passing near the corner of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, princely dressed in a frock coat and top hat.

   • 1916, Jack London, chapter VI, in Hearts of Three, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published 1920, page 82:

     “And if this Señor Regan be princely generous, he may give you and me the munificent sum that was mentioned, eh? Five times the sum, or ten times, with this Gringo tiger blowing down law and order and our good jail-walls, would be nearer the mark.”

   • 1938 December 11, “Dr. Townsend Shaves His Plan”, in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, volume 91, number 97, St. Louis, Mo., page 2F:

     Has the princely generous Dr. Townsend turned traitor to the old folks?

   • 2005, Paula Perry-McKay, Romance of a Lifetime, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 172:

     Ron was blithely standing at the window looking out. He was princely dressed in a black suit, and a cream-colored polo sweater. Ron turned around looking debonair as usual.

   • 2006, Thomas Porky McDonald, “Beyond the Plate”, in Never These Men: One Man’s Look at Baseball’s Creatively Cultured Figures, Bloomington, Ind., Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse, section “Tallman Tales”, page 187:

     These are the accepted truths to all who encountered or knew of the princely dressed first sacker, whose three-piece suits and brown velvet derby defined him.

   • 2013, J.L. Stewart, chapter 33, in Avarom and the Secret of the White Mist, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 355:

     “Well, the sun was barely gone and the men had dispersed. It was just me and a small squad of men, about to do our rounds when this tall princely dressed man appeared out of nowhere. He was followed by a medium built man wearing the robes of a Caravan master.”

   • 2014, Deepa Vaibhav Shah, I Love... An Incomplete Commitment, Partridge India, →ISBN:

     Harmeet was a 6 feet tall sardar, good sense of humor as all sardars do. He was also very princely dressed.

   • 2017, Edgar Beaumont, Teleportkinesis, Page Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

     She moved her big, beautiful, well-diluted eyes up and down his slender princely dressed form.

   • 2020, Veronica Purcell, The Fourth Zaldizko (Seriphyn Knight Chronicles; book 2), Katarr Kanticles Press, page 7:

     The men were princely dressed in pin striped suits, fedora hats and broad toe shoes with patterned vamps. I had only seen these desirably dressed men as moving watercolor images in Velvet Rose magazines.

Synonyms

• princelily