Highness is a formal title used when addressing or referring to royalty, like princes, princesses, and sometimes kings and queens. When you meet a prince, you might say “Your Highness” instead of using his first name. When talking about a princess to someone else, you'd say “Her Highness.”

The title shows respect for someone's royal position. Different levels of royalty use different titles: “Your Majesty” is reserved for kings and queens, while “Your Highness” typically addresses their children and other royal family members. Some countries use “Your Royal Highness” for closer relatives of the monarch and “Your Highness” for more distant ones.

In medieval times, when most people worked as farmers or craftspeople, royal families held the highest positions in society. While modern democracies have elected leaders, many countries still have royal families who carry these traditional titles.

You might encounter this word when reading historical fiction or fairy tales, where characters address princes and princesses as “Your Highness.” The title appears less often in everyday modern life, though royal families in countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, and Jordan still use it for official occasions.