What does regale mean?
Regale means to entertain or honour someone with exceptional generosity, such as a lavish feast, gifts, entertainment, or other sumptuous treatment. The word often suggests that the recipients are being treated with the magnificence associated with royalty, although it need not involve an actual monarch. A host might regale guests with an elaborate banquet, a performer might regale an audience with an exceptional display, or a tour guide might regale visitors with fascinating stories. Regale is also used more figuratively when something impresses others through its beauty, scale, or refinement. The verb has a formal, celebratory tone and appears especially often in writing about courts, ceremonies, hospitality, and public events. Its royal associations come from its Latin ancestry: the underlying word rex meant king, and the English word ultimately developed from a term meaning royal or kingly.
To entertain, delight, or treat someone lavishly with a feast, gifts, hospitality, or an impressive display.
"The festival regaled the crowd with music, food, and firework displays."
Usually transitive and formal in register. The accompanying lavishness or entertainment is commonly expressed with the preposition with.
A crown or emblem of sovereignty, especially one associated with a king.
"The regale was displayed above the ceremonial throne."
This noun sense is rare and chiefly associated with historical or ceremonial language.
The rare noun has the plural regales; this should not be confused with regalia, the collective or plural noun for royal ceremonial objects.
"The collection includes several regales used in historical pageants."
To regale someone is literally to treat them like royalty: lavish hospitality with roots in the Latin word for king.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does regale come from?
English regale came through French régale, an adjective derived from Latin regalis, meaning royal or kingly. The Latin adjective in turn came from rex, meaning king. The modern verb developed by extension from the idea of treating someone in a royal or exceptionally lavish manner.
Related word forms
How regale is actually used
The verb is formal and celebratory, suggesting exceptional generosity or grandeur. It is often used in historical, ceremonial, or literary contexts and is normally transitive, with the recipients as the object and the lavish hospitality or entertainment as its accompaniment.
Easily confused with regale
Regale is a verb meaning to lavish attention or hospitality on someone, whereas regalia denotes the ceremonial objects associated with royalty.
Regale is a verb meaning to treat someone lavishly or make them feel royal, whereas regal is an adjective meaning kingly, magnificent, or fit for royalty.