king English · revision 3504

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=before 725 (Old English cyning)|origins=gem-pro *kuningaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɪŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|king]], [[inh|ang|cyning]], later contracted to cyng,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*kuningaz]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates include [[ofs|kening]], [[osx|kuning]], [[nl|koning]], [[de|König]] and [[non|konungr]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) It is probably formed from the base of [[kin]] and the suffix [[-ing]],^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) as “scion of the (noble) race”^(Hoad 1986) or “leader of the people”,^(Etymonline) but the exact relation to ''kin'' is undetermined.^(Etymonline) Gothic used þiudans instead, cognate with Old English [[m|ang|þēoden|t=chief, prince]].^(Etymonline) Finnish [[m|fi|kuningas]] and Old Church Slavonic kŭnędzĭ “prince” are early borrowings from Germanic.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The male sovereign ruler of a state: Old English ''cyning'', recorded before 725,^(Barnhart 1988) with the title before a personal name from 836.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Etymonline) The playing card is from 1563,^(HTOED) and the crowned piece in draughts from 1677.^(HTOED) 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.^(Etymonline) The verb “to rule as king” is from about 1420.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – Old English ''cyning''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 836 – as a title before a name.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – one supreme in a field.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1420 – verb, to act the king.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1563 – the playing card.^(HTOED)

+ * 1677 – a crowned piece in draughts.^(HTOED)

+ * 1939 – ''king-size''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A male [[sovereign]] or [[monarch]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The most powerful or important person or thing in a group or field.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(often King)'' God or Christ.^(AHD)

+ # A playing card bearing the figure of a king.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # The principal piece in [[chess]].^(AHD)

+ # A piece in [[draughts]] that has reached the far row and been crowned.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Chief or principal, especially in size.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make into a king; to [[crown]] a draughts piece.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kingless]]

+ * [[kinglessness]]

+ * [[kinglike]]

+ * [[god-king]]

+ * [[kingbolt]]

+ * [[kingcraft]]

+ * [[kingcup]]

+ * [[kingdom]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kin]]

+ * [[kind]]

+ * [[queen]]

+ * [[kaiser]]

+ * [[czar]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}