kingship

Etymology

It is formed from English king + -ship,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} first spelled kingscip.^[5][6] King is from Old English cyning (“king, ruler”), from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, of uncertain origin.^[3] Old English had cynescipe (“royal dignity, the position of a king”),^[3][7][2] and the OED compares Middle Dutch conincscap and Dutch koningschap.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The position of a king, or the time of his reign: in the Cursor Mundi, composed before 1325 and copied before 1400, in the words "In his kingscip".^[2][5] The Middle English Dictionary glosses this first record as "a kingdom", where other manuscripts have kingdome and king-riche.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century,^[3] and Dictionary.com gives the range 1275–1325.^[6]

Semantic evolution

By 1577, in Golding's translation of Calvin, it could mean rule by a king, at first in an extended use.^[2] The Shorter Oxford dates this sense to the mid 17th century.^[4] From 1638 his kingship served as a title of real or mock respect.^[2][4] From 1700 the word could name the territory itself,^[2] which the Shorter Oxford dates only to the mid 19th century.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "royalty; monarchy", quoting Charles I.^[8] Collins adds the skill or practice of ruling as a king.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1325 – the office or position of a king; a reign, as kingscip.^[2][5]
• 1577 – the rule of a king; monarchical government.^[2]
• 1638 – his kingship, as a title of respect.^[2]
• 1700 – a territory ruled by a king.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The office or position of a king: He gave up the kingship after a brief reign.^[10][9][2]
2. The quality or state of being a king; majesty.^[10][2]
3. Government by a king; monarchy.^[10][2]
4. The skill or practice of ruling as a king.^[9]
5. (rare) With a possessive, as his kingship, a title of real or mock respect.^[2][4]
6. A territory ruled by a king; a kingdom.^[2][4]

Related words

• king
• kingdom
• -ship

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e 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)
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster