Definition: King

Etymology

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (king), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (king), equivalent to kin + -ing. Cognate with Scots keeng (king), North Frisian köning (king), West Frisian kening (king), Dutch koning (king), Low German Koning, Köning (king), German König (king), Danish konge (king), Norwegian konge, Swedish konung, kung (king), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (king), Polish ksiądz (priest), Russian князь or knjazʹ (prince), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь or kŭnędzĭ, Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (king), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Karelian kuninkas, Livvi kuńingas, Ludian kuńingas, Veps kuningaz, Võro kuning, and Votic kunikaz. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (king) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (king).

Noun

king (plural kings)

1. A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.

   Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547.

2. The monarch with the most power and authority in a monarchy, regardless of sex.
3. A powerful or majorly influential person.

   Howard Stern styled himself as the "king of all media".

4. Something that has a preeminent position.

   In times of financial panic, cash is king.

5. A component of certain games.
   1. (chess) The principal chess piece, that players seek to threaten with unavoidable capture to result in a victory by checkmate. It is often the tallest piece, with a symbolic crown with a cross at the top.
   2. (card games) A playing card with the letter "K" and the image of a king on it, the thirteenth card in a given suit.
   3. A checker (a piece of checkers/draughts) that reached the farthest row forward, thus becoming crowned (either by turning it upside-down, or by stacking another checker on it) and gaining more freedom of movement.
   4. The central pin or skittle in bowling games.
6. A male dragonfly; a drake.
7. A king-sized bed.
8. (graph theory) A vertex in a directed graph which can reach every other vertex via a path with a length of at most 2.

Derived terms

• king cobra
• king crab
• kingdom
• kinglet
• kinglike
• kingship
• king size
• kingsman
• Kingston

Verb

king (third-person singular simple present kings, present participle kinging, simple past and past participle kinged)

1. To crown king, to make (a person) king.
2. To rule over as king.
3. To perform the duties of a king.
4. To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.
5. To promote a piece of draughts/checkers that has traversed the board to the opposite side, that piece subsequently being permitted to move backwards as well as forwards.
6. To dress and perform as a drag king.

Credits

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