throne English · revision 7610

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=grc θρόνος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /θɹəʊ̯n/ ''(UK)''; /θɹoʊ̯n/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English trone, later throne after the Latin form,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|trone]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from Latin [[m|la|thronus]], from Greek [[m|grc|θρόνος|tr=thrónos|t=elevated seat, chair]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which Watkins derives from PIE [[ine-pro|*dʰer-|alt=*dher-|t=to hold firmly, support]], the source also of Latin firmus and Sanskrit dharma.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The seat of God or a saint in heaven: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) before 1240 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The seat of a sovereign on earth is from about 1300, when the spelling throne also appears.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The seat of a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions is from about 1380,^(OED 1989) and the throne as a symbol of royal power from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Thrones, the third order of angels, after Colossians 1:16, are 14th-century.^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) A sitter's seat in a portrait-painter's studio is from 1838.^(OED 1989) Colloquially a lavatory, it is from 1922 in the OED, the comparison by 1922 and the sense by 1960 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to put on a throne, is from about 1378, in ''Piers Plowman''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – trone, God's seat.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – a sovereign's seat.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1378 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 14th century – an order of angels.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1922 – a lavatory (colloquial).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The ceremonial chair of a [[sovereign]] or [[bishop]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The power or rank of a sovereign: ''came to the throne''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Thrones)'' The third of the nine orders of [[angel|alt=angels]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To place or sit on a throne; to [[enthrone]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[throneless]]

+ * [[dethrone]]

+ * [[enthrone]]

+ * [[inthrone]]

+ * [[unthrone]]

+ * [[throne room]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[firm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}