König

Forms

König m (genitive Königes or Königs, plural Könige)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German künec, inherited from Old High German kuning, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, inherited from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz (“king”).^[2][3][1] The same word is Old Saxon kuning, Old English cyning (whence English king) and Middle Dutch coninc, continued in Dutch koning, while Old Norse konungr has the suffix in another ablaut grade.^[2][3][4] The Gothic texts call the king 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐍃 (þiudans), a derivative of 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda, “people”).^[5][6] The word was taken very early into Finnish kuningas, which keeps an old sound shape,^[2][3] and the Slavic words for “prince”, such as Russian князь (knjazʹ), are explained as loans of it too.^[6][1] A shorter form survives as the first part of compounds: kunirīhhi (“realm”) and Old English cyne- (“royal”).^[2][3]

The suffix forms names of origin and belonging, so most explanations take the word in parallel to Edeling beside Adel: it would be derived from a word meaning “noble kin”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[2] Pfeifer and the Duden derive it from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“kin, family”) (Gothic 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌹 (kuni), kunni, cynn), so that the king was originally “the man of a noble family”, distinguished by his descent.^[3][7][1] Kluge objects that this noun cannot be the base on formal grounds, since an n-stem or a consonant stem would be needed, and none is recorded.^[2] He therefore also considers Kahl's link with the root “to know”, Proto-Indo-European *ǵnō- (“to know”): Lithuanian žynỹs “sorcerer, priest” shows a parallel, and the king would be “the one who has secret knowledge of the future”, which Kluge finds semantically appealing.^[2][8]

The modern vowel ⟨ö⟩ is Central German, against Middle High German ⟨ü⟩.^[7][5][1] The ⟨n⟩ before ⟨g⟩ was lost early, as in Pfennig and Honig.^[7][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German kuning is recorded from 765 in the glosses, and then in the Isidor, the Hildebrandslied, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^[9][4][10] It means “ruler, lord, king”, and is used of God and of Christ, and as the name of the wren.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

Pfeifer thinks the word first named the ruler of a small territory and people, and came to mean the holder of the highest dignity in a land only with the Frankish Merovingian kingdom and the later English and Scandinavian kingdoms.^[3] In Middle High German künec could still mean anyone of royal blood, such as a king's brother or son.^[11]

The title was also given to the head of a guild or company: Middle High German has a künec der wâpen (herald) and a king of the minstrels, and later German a Pfeiferkönig and a Seilerkönig; Schützenkönig survives.^[11][5] Paul sees in this the reason why König is so frequent as a surname.^[5][12] It was transferred to animals in Zaunkönig “wren”, and generally to the first or best of a kind.^[5][3] The games took it over for the chief piece in chess, a playing card and the middle pin in skittles.^[4][13]

The adjective königlich goes back to Old High German kuninglīh; beside it stood königisch, still used by Goethe in 1796.^[5][7] Königtum first meant “kingdom” (Stieler, Steinbach), and was used in 1792 by Wieland for French royauté “kingship”.^[5] The plant name Königskerze “mullein” is Early New High German, probably after the plant's tall, straight shape, like a burning candle.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 765 – Old High German kuning appears in glosses.^[9]
• 10th century – First record of Old High German kunirīhhi “kingdom”.^[3][9]
• 1060–1065 – Middle High German künic is used by Williram of Ebersberg.^[14]
• 1393 – A “king of the minstrels” is recorded.^[11]
• 1792 – Wieland uses Königtum for French royauté.^[5]
• 1796 – Goethe still writes königisch gesinnt “royalist”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (no plural) The title of the highest secular ruler in certain monarchies, or (in an empire) the second highest after the Kaiser: Carl Gustaf, König von Schweden.^[13][1]
2. A king, the holder of this title: Der König hat abgedankt.^[13][1]
3. (figurative) The first or best of a kind: poetically der König der Tiere “the lion”, and der ungekrönte König “the uncrowned king”, the best in a field.^[13][3]
4. (chess) The king, the most important piece.^[13][1]
5. (card games) The king, the card ranking second.^[13][1]
6. (skittles) The pin standing in the middle.^[13][4]

Word family

• Königin
• königlich
• Königreich
• Königtum
• Zaunkönig
• Schützenkönig
• Königskerze

Related words

• Kind
• Kaiser
• English king

Usage notes

In Austria and southern Germany the final consonant is pronounced /k/, elsewhere /ç/.^[1] The genitive is Königs, older Königes.^[1] In Early New High German könig was also a popular reshaping of Latin cuniculus “rabbit”.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 523
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 884
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
6. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 11, 1691
7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 473
8. ^ a b Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 186
11. ^ a b c Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities
12. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
13. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
15. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de