king

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɪŋ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English king, inherited from Old English cyning, later contracted to cyng,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz.^[2][4] Its cognates include Old Frisian kening, Old Saxon kuning, Dutch koning, German König and Old Norse konungr.^[3][5] It is probably formed from the base of kin and the suffix -ing,^[5][4][6] as “scion of the (noble) race”^[4] or “leader of the people”,^[2] but the exact relation to kin is undetermined.^[2] Gothic used þiudans instead, cognate with Old English þēoden (“chief, prince”).^[2] Finnish kuningas and Old Church Slavonic kŭnędzĭ “prince” are early borrowings from Germanic.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The male sovereign ruler of a state: Old English cyning, recorded before 725,^[3] with the title before a personal name from 836.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word was used of the chiefs of Anglian and Saxon tribes and of the British and Danish chiefs they fought, and it took on a more imposing quality with the rise of European nation-states.^[2] One with supremacy in a certain field is from the late 14th century, as in Gower's “the lion is king of beasts” in 1390.^[2] The playing card is from 1563,^[9] and the crowned piece in draughts from 1677.^[9] As a modifier for large or dominant species, king is used in king crab (1690s), king snake (1737) and king cobra (1888), and king-size is from 1939, first of cigarettes.^[2] The verb “to rule as king” is from about 1420.^[8]

Timeline

• before 725 – Old English cyning.^[3]
• 836 – as a title before a name.^[8]
• late 14th century – one supreme in a field.^[2]
• c. 1420 – verb, to act the king.^[8]
• 1563 – the playing card.^[9]
• 1677 – a crowned piece in draughts.^[9]
• 1939 – king-size.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A male sovereign or monarch.
2. The most powerful or important person or thing in a group or field.
3. (often King) God or Christ.
4. A playing card bearing the figure of a king.
5. The principal piece in chess.
6. A piece in draughts that has reached the far row and been crowned.

Adjective

1. Chief or principal, especially in size.

Verb

1. To make into a king; to crown a draughts piece.

Word family

• kingless
• kinglessness
• kinglike
• god-king
• kingbolt
• kingcraft
• kingcup
• kingdom

Related words

• kin
• kind
• queen
• kaiser
• czar

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)