Meanings
royal road1
nounroyal road (plural royal roads)
plural royal roads
- An easy or straightforward procedure for achieving a goal; a procedure that requires little effort.
There is no royal road to success in transport work.
1942 May-June, T. F. Cameron, “An Outline of Railway Traffic Operation”, in Railway Magazine, page 138 - A chord progression, IVᴹ⁷–V⁷–iii⁷–vi, common in Japanese pop music.
Royal Road2
proper nounthe Royal Road
- historicalThe longest road in the ancient system of trade routes and roads developed in Achaemenid Persia, which connected the capitals Sardis (in Asia Minor) to Susa (in Mesopotamia) and featured post-stations with service facilities.
Origin
- Japanese王道進行
- Englishroyal road
In reference to Euclid, who is said to have told a king that there was no royal road to geometry. In the musical sense, a calque of Japanese 王道進行, itself deriving from a calque of sense 1.
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ βασιληΐη
- ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ βασιληΐη (hē hodòs hē basilēḯē)ancient road in Persia
Finnish helppo tie
- helppo tieeasy way
French voie royale
- voie royaleeasy way
German Königsweg
- Königswegeasy way
Japanese 王道
- 王道easy way
Persian راه شاهی
- راه شاهی (râh-e šâhi)ancient road in Persia
Polish łatwy sposób
- łatwy sposóbeasy way
Spanish camino real
- camino realeasy way
Swedish kungsväg
- kungsvägeasy way
Cite this entry
APA
royal road. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20road
MLA
“royal road.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20road. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “royal road,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20road.
Source: royal road on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.