conqueror

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conquerour,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman conquerour and Old French conquereor,^[4][5][6][7] the oblique case of conquerere, an agent noun from conquerre (“to conquer, defeat, vanquish”).^[4][5][3] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records the word, spelled conquerur, from 1155, meaning one who takes a country or people by force, a victor in battle, and William the Conqueror.^[8] The French verb is from Vulgar Latin *conquaerō (“to search for, procure by effort, win”), for Latin conquīrō, from com-, here perhaps intensive, and quaerō (“to seek, gain”).^[5] Another early English form, conquestor, came directly from the Latin agent noun conquistor.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who gains a country by force of arms or defeats an enemy: 1307, in an elegy on Edward I.^[4] The Middle English Dictionary's first quotation is from the romance Reinbrun (c. 1330, perhaps composed c. 1300),^[2] and Etymonline dates the word to about 1300;^[5] Dictionary.com gives 1250–1300.^[9]

Semantic evolution

William, Duke of Normandy, was called conquestor in Anglo-Latin from the early 12th century, and the Conqueror in English by the late 14th.^[5] The OED's first record of the word as a title is from R. Mannyng's chronicle (c. 1330),^[4] and the Middle English Dictionary records it for victorious rulers in general.^[2] Chaucer used the word sixteen times and Gower five,^[10] Chaucer also in a figurative sense (c. 1374).^[4] The feminine conqueress is attested from about 1400.^[5] From the 17th century a conqueror was also the winner of any contest or game,^[4][3] and in Scots law (1597) one who acquired property otherwise than by inheritance.^[4] In the 19th century the word was used for a conker (1821, in Southey)^[4][6] and for the deciding game of a match (1891).^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1307 – one who conquers a country or people; a victor.^[4]
• c. 1330 – as a title of victorious princes, especially William I.^[4][2]
• c. 1374 – figurative use, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.^[4]
• c. 1400 – the feminine conqueress.^[5]
• 1597 – Scots law: one who acquires property otherwise than by inheritance (obsolete).^[4]
• 1656 – the winner of a contest of skill or strength, or of a game.^[4]
• 1821 – a conker.^[4][6]
• 1891 – the deciding game of a match.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who conquers a country or people by force of arms, or who defeats an enemy: The conquerors renamed the captured city.^[3][4][6]
2. The winner of a contest or struggle; a victor.^[3][4]
3. the Conqueror: William the Conqueror, William I of England, who led the Norman Conquest of 1066.^[11][6][4]
4. (British) A conker.^[4][6]
5. (obsolete) The deciding game in a series; a rubber.^[3][4]

Related words

• conquer
• conquest
• conquistador
• query
• inquire
• acquire

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins