princely

What it means

1. Relating to a prince.

   princely birth or character

   2 more examples

   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:

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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

   She so bewitched the whole princely race that six different princes, although each was married to a young wife, remained childless.

   1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 93

2. Similar or comparable to a prince.

   Synonyms: princelike, princy

3. Befitting a prince.

   a princely sum

   2 more examples

   No expense was spared in making it a princely residence.

   I have mentioned before how impressed I was when I used a Glasgow suburban train late one Saturday night, when I reached Queen Street the barriers were closed and I had to cough up a princely couple of quid before being allowed through.

   2025 November 12, Christian Wolmar, “A proper BTP presence is worth every penny”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 41

In a sentence

princely birth or character

Where it comes from

1. Middle Englishprincely, pryncely
2. Englishprincely

From Middle English princely, pryncely, equivalent to prince + -ly (adjectival suffix). Compare Dutch prinselijk.