At 03:04 PM 2/5/2007 +0100, shirling & neueweise wrote: >anyone know where the word originates? i'm wondering if it has to do >with the private and quasi-private "public" concerts held in >aristocractic-supported subscription series common in the late 18th >and early 19th c. where collections would be made for the composer >from the audience members.
Your time guess on current usage appears to be close. The Online Etymological Dictionary is a pretty good place for this stuff: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=royalty royalty 1398," office or position of a sovereign," from O.Fr. roialte, from V.L. *regalitatem (nom. *regalitas), from L. regalis (see royal). Sense of "prerogatives or rights granted by a sovereign to an individual or corporation" is from 1483. From that evolved more general senses, such as "payment to a landowner for use of a mine" (1839), and ultimately "payment to an author, composer, etc." for sale or use of his or her work (1857). _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
