Pluralis majestatis ("majestic plural") is the plural pronoun where it is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch, bishop, pope, or university rector. It is also called the "Royal 'we'" or the "Victorian 'we'." The more general word for the use of we to refer to oneself is nosism.^[1] Look up plural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase with or without a determiner, such as you and they in English. ... For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      This article... For other uses, see Pope (disambiguation). ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings, but all of them indicate someone who is in charge of something. ... A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ... Victorian can refer to: people from or attributes of places called Victoria (disambiguation page), including Victoria, Australia, people who lived during the British Victorian era of the 19th century, and aspects of the Victorian era, for example: Victorian architecture Victorian fashion Victorian morality Victorian literature This is a disambiguation page...

The idea behind the pluralis majestatis is that a monarch or other high official always speaks for his or her people.^{[citation needed]} For example, the Basic Law of the Sultanate of Oman opens thus:

On the Issue of the Basic Law of the State We, Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman…^[2]

Famous examples of purported instances:

• We are not amused. — Queen Victoria (in at least one account of this quotation, though, she was not speaking for herself alone, but for the ladies of the court.^{[citation needed]})
• The abdication statement of Nicholas II of Russia uses the pluralis majestatis liberally, as in "In agreement with the Imperial Duma We have thought it well to renounce the Throne of the Russian Empire and to lay down the supreme power."^[3]
• We are a grandmother. — Margaret Thatcher announcing the birth of Mark Thatcher's son Michael in 1989.^{[citation needed]}

Another view^{[citation needed]} of the form is that it reflects the fact that when a monarch speaks he or she speaks both in his own name and in the name of his function, office or status. Queen Victoria redirects here. ... Nicholas II redirects here. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet (born 15 August 1953) is the only son of Sir Denis Thatcher and Baroness Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, and twin brother of Carol Thatcher. ...

United States Navy Admiral Hyman G. Rickover told a subordinate who used the royal we: "Three groups are permitted that usage: pregnant women, royalty, and schizophrenics. Which one are you?"^{[citation needed]} This was said as the subordinate was speaking for superiors without authority as well as in an unofficial capacity. USN redirects here. ... For other uses, see Admiral (disambiguation). ... Hyman G. Rickover (1955) Admiral Hyman George Rickover, U.S. Navy, (January 27, 1900 or August 24, 1898 – July 8, 1986) was known as the Father of the Nuclear Navy, which as of July 2007 had produced 200 nuclear-powered submarines, and 23 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and cruisers, though...

It is to be distinguished from pluralis modestiae, also pluralis auctoris (inclusion of readers or listeners, respectively), often used in mathematics. For instance: For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ...

Let us calculate! — Leibniz

We are thus led also to a definition of "time" in physics. — Albert Einstein

The tradition of the Royal We may be tracked to the same origins as of the Mughals of India and Sultans of Banu Abbas and Banu Umayyah. This tradition use "Royal We" to express their dignity or highest position either understood as strictly hierarchical or as referential to an alternate "higher" than ego identity. This use of "Royal We" has been understood as totally different from the concept of its Western, or Occidental use. Western use here denotes a "Royal We" used by Kings / Queens speaking on behalf of their people.^{[citation needed]}, in other words modernized to a secular symbolic. The distinction between Oriental and Occidental Monarchic traditions seem to be superfluous as these monarchic, and wider cultural traditions (i.e. indo-european) seem to go along the similar genealogic lineages, traces as the linguistic and genetic evolutions. Leibniz redirects here. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... For other uses, see Sultan (disambiguation). ... Look up West in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Occidental means generally western. It is a traditional designation (especially when capitalized) for anything belonging to the Occident or West — the western part of the classical world (Europe) and the New World, and especially of its society. ... Look up West in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ...

References

See also

• We
• T-V distinction
• Elohim, a plural name of the Hebrew deity Yahweh.