Regalia

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈɡeɪ.li.ə/

Definitions

1. Clothing, insignia, or ornaments that indicate a person's rank, office, or membership in a particular group or organization
2. Elaborate vestments, insignia, and decorative items worn to display one's official position, ceremonial role, or organizational affiliation
3. Ornamental clothing and emblems that signify authority, status, or formal membership within an institution or society

Etymology: The Latin "rēx" meant "king," and its adjective "rēgālis" meant "of a king." In Medieval Latin, the neuter plural of that adjective was turned into a noun, "rēgālia," which meant "royal powers" or the rights and prerogatives belonging to a monarch. The sense was about authority rather than objects, and the word carried that legal meaning into Middle English as "regalie." Over time the meaning moved from the rights of a king to the things that displayed them. The crown, sceptre, orb and other ceremonial objects used at coronations came to be called the regalia, and the term widened from royal objects to the insignia of any office or order. That is why the word now covers the robes and badges of a lodge member or a university official as readily as a monarch's jewels. The ending "-ia" is not a suffix in the usual sense here; the word simply inherited the Latin neuter plural form, which is why it looks like "regal" plus a Latin ending.

Synonyms: insignia, emblems, ornaments, raiment, gear

Antonyms: plainness, simplicity