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Webster 1913 Edition

King

King

(kĭng)
,
Noun.
A Chinese musical instrument, consisting of resonant stones or metal plates, arranged according to their tones in a frame of wood, and struck with a hammer.

King

,
Noun.
[AS.
cyng
,
cyning
; akin to OS.
kuning
, D.
koning
, OHG.
kuning
, G.
könig
, Icel.
konungr
, Sw.
konung
, Dan.
konge
; formed with a patronymic ending, and fr. the root of E.
kin
; cf. Icel.
konr
a man of noble birth. √44. See
Kin
.]
1.
A chief ruler; a sovereign; one invested with supreme authority over a nation, country, or tribe, usually by hereditary succession; a monarch; a prince.
“Ay, every inch a king.”
Shak.
Kings
will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.
Burke.
There was a State without
king
or nobles.
R. Choate.
But yonder comes the powerful
King
of Day,
Rejoicing in the east
Thomson.
2.
One who, or that which, holds a supreme position or rank; a chief among competitors;
as, a railroad
king
; a money
king
; the
king
of the lobby; the
king
of beasts.
3.
A playing card having the picture of a
king{1}
;
as, the
king
of diamonds
.
4.
The chief piece in the game of chess.
5.
A crowned man in the game of draughts.
6.
pl.
The title of two historical books in the Old Testament.
☞
King
is often used adjectively, or in combination, to denote preëminence or superiority in some particular; as, kingbird; king crow; king vulture.
Apostolic king
.
See
Apostolic
.
–
King-at-arms
, or
King-of-arms
,
the chief heraldic officer of a country. In England the king-at-arms was formerly of great authority. His business is to direct the heralds, preside at their chapters, and have the jurisdiction of armory. There are three principal kings-at-arms, viz., Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy. The latter (literally north roy or north king) officiates north of the Trent.
–
King auk
(Zool.)
,
the little auk or sea dove.
–
King bird of paradise
.
(Zool.)
,
See
Bird of paradise
.
–
King card
,
in whist, the best unplayed card of each suit;
thus, if the ace and king of a suit have been played, the queen is the
king card
of the suit
.
–
King Cole
,
a legendary king of Britain, who is said to have reigned in the third century.
–
King conch
(Zool.)
,
a large and handsome univalve shell (
Cassis cameo
), found in the West Indies. It is used for making cameos. See
Helmet shell
, under
Helmet
.
–
King Cotton
,
a popular personification of the great staple production of the southern United States.
–
King crab
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The limulus or horseshoe crab. See
Limulus
.
(b)
The large European spider crab or thornback (
Maia squinado
).
(c)
A large crab of the northern Pacific (
Paralithodes camtshatica
), especially abundant on the coasts of Alaska and Japan, and popular as a food; called also
Alaskan king crab
.
–
King crow
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A black drongo shrike (
Buchanga atra
) of India; – so called because, while breeding, they attack and drive away hawks, crows, and other large birds.
(b)
The
Dicrurus macrocercus
of India, a crested bird with a long, forked tail. Its color is black, with green and blue reflections. Called also
devil bird
.
–
King duck
(Zool.)
,
a large and handsome eider duck (
Somateria spectabilis
), inhabiting the arctic regions of both continents.
–
King eagle
(Zool.)
,
an eagle (
Aquila heliaca
) found in Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is about as large as the golden eagle. Some writers believe it to be the imperial eagle of Rome.
–
King hake
(Zool.)
,
an American hake (
Phycis regius
), found in deep water along the Atlantic coast.
–
King monkey
(Zool.)
,
an African monkey (
Colobus polycomus
), inhabiting Sierra Leone.
–
King mullet
(Zool.)
,
a West Indian red mullet (
Upeneus maculatus
); – so called on account of its great beauty. Called also
goldfish
.
–
King of terrors
,
death.
–
King parrakeet
(Zool.)
,
a handsome Australian parrakeet (
Platycercys scapulatus
), often kept in a cage. Its prevailing color is bright red, with the back and wings bright green, the rump blue, and tail black.
–
King penguin
(Zool.)
,
any large species of penguin of the genus
Aptenodytes
; esp.,
Aptenodytes longirostris
, of the Falkland Islands and Kerguelen Land, and
Aptenodytes Patagonica
, of Patagonia.
–
King rail
(Zool.)
,
a small American rail (
Rallus elegans
), living in fresh-water marshes. The upper parts are fulvous brown, striped with black; the breast is deep cinnamon color.
–
King salmon
(Zool.)
,
the quinnat. See
Quinnat
.
–
King’s counsel
, or
Queen's counsel
(Eng. Law)
,
barristers learned in the law, who have been called within the bar, and selected to be the king's or queen's counsel. They answer in some measure to the advocates of the revenue (advocati fisci) among the Romans. They can not be employed against the crown without special license.
Wharton's Law Dict.
–
King's cushion
,
a temporary seat made by two persons crossing their hands.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
–
The king's English
,
correct or current language of good speakers; pure English.
Shak.
–
King's evidence
or
Queen's evidence
,
testimony in favor of the Crown by a witness who confesses his guilt as an accomplice. See under
Evidence
.
[Eng.]
–
King's evil
,
scrofula; – so called because formerly supposed to be healed by the touch of a king.
–
King snake
(Zool.)
,
a large, nearly black, harmless snake (
Ophiobolus getulus
) of the Southern United States; – so called because it kills and eats other kinds of snakes, including even the rattlesnake.
–
King's spear
(Bot.)
,
the white asphodel (
Asphodelus albus
).
–
King's yellow
,
a yellow pigment, consisting essentially of sulphide and oxide of arsenic; – called also
yellow orpiment
.
–
King tody
(Zool.)
,
a small fly-catching bird (
Eurylaimus serilophus
) of tropical America. The head is adorned with a large, spreading, fan-shaped crest, which is bright red, edged with black.
–
King vulture
(Zool.)
,
a large species of vulture (
Sarcorhamphus papa
), ranging from Mexico to Paraguay, The general color is white. The wings and tail are black, and the naked carunculated head and the neck are briliantly colored with scarlet, yellow, orange, and blue. So called because it drives away other vultures while feeding.
–
King wood
,
a wood from Brazil, called also
violet wood
, beautifully streaked in violet tints, used in turning and small cabinetwork. The tree is probably a species of
Dalbergia
. See
Jacaranda
.

King

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Kinged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Kinging
). ]
To supply with a king; to make a king of; to raise to royalty.
[R.]
Shak.
Those traitorous captains of Israel who
kinged
themselves by slaying their masters and reigning in their stead.
South.

Webster 1828 Edition

King

KING

, n.
1.
The chief or sovereign of a nation; a man invested with supreme authority over a nation, tribe or country; a monarch. Kings are absolute monarchs, when they possess the powers of government without control, or the entire sovereignty over a nation; they are limited monarchs, when their power is restrained by fixed laws; and they are absolute, when they possess the whole legislative, judicial, and executive power, or when the legislative or judicial powers, or both, are vested in other bodies of men. Kings are hereditary sovereigns, when they hold the powers of government by right of birth or inheritance, and elective, when raised to the throne by choice.
Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.
2.
A sovereign; a prince; a ruler. Christ is called the king of his church. Ps.2
3.
A card having the picture of a king; as the king of diamonds.
4.
The chief piece in the game of chess.
King at arms, an officer in England of great antiquity, and formerly of great authority, whose business is to direct the heralds, preside at their chapters, and have the jurisdiction of armory. There are three kings at arms, vix.garter, clarencieux, and norroy. The latter [northroy] officiates north of the Trent.

KING

,
Verb.
T.
In ludicrous language, to supply with a king, or to make royal; to raise to royalty.

Definition 2024

King

King

See also: king

English

Proper noun

King

  1. The title of a king.
  2. An English and Scottish surname​, originally a nickname for someone who either acted as if he were a king or had worked in the king's household.
  3. (Britain, rail transport) King class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.

Derived terms

Anagrams

king

king

See also: King

English

The white and black kings (chess)
王將
A king piece in shogi. Sometimes just 王.

Alternative forms

Noun

king ‎(plural kings)

  1. A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it's an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation.
    Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547.‎
  2. A powerful or influential person.
    Howard Stern styled himself as the "king of all media".‎
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter I”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      "I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came […] and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. […]"
    • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      The truth is that [Isaac] Newton was very much a product of his time. The colossus of science was not the first king of reason, Keynes wrote after reading Newton’s unpublished manuscripts. Instead “he was the last of the magicians”.
  3. Something that has a preeminent position.
    In times of financial panic, cash is king.‎
  4. A component of certain games.
    1. 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.
  5. (Britain, slang) A king skin.
    Oi mate, have you got kings?‎
  6. A male dragonfly; a drake.
  7. A king-sized bed.
    • 2002, Scott W. Donkin, Gerard Meyer, Peak Performance: Body and Mind (page 119)
      Try asking for a king-size bed next time because kings are usually firmer.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
See also
Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
king queen castle, rook bishop knight pawn
Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace deuce, two three four five six seven
eight nine ten jack queen king joker
Translations

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.
    • 1982, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Review, Volume 47, page 16,
      The kinging of Macbeth is the business of the first part of the play […] .
    • 2008, William Shakespeare, A. R. Braunmuller (editor), Macbeth, Introduction, page 24,
      One narrative is the kinging and unkinging of Macbeth; the other narrative is the attack on Banquo's line and that line's eventual accession and supposed Jacobean survival through Malcolm's successful counter-attack on Macbeth.
  2. To rule over as king.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 4,
      And let us do it with no show of fear; / No, with no more than if we heard that England / Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance; / For, my good liege, she is so idly king’d, / Her sceptre so fantastically borne / By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth, / That fear attends her not.
  3. To perform the duties of a king.
    • 1918, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, The Railroad Trainman, Volume 35, page 675,
      He had to do all his kinging after supper, which left him no time for roystering with the nobility and certain others.
    • 2001, Chip R. Bell, Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning, page 6,
      Second, Mentor (the old man) combined the wisdom of experience with the sensitivity of a fawn in his attempts to convey kinging skills to young Telemachus.
  4. To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.
    • 1917, Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself, page 32,
      The seating arrangement of the temple was the Almanach de Gotha of Congregation Emanu-el. Old Ben Reitman, patriarch among the Jewish settlers of Winnebago, who had come over an immigrant youth, and who now owned hundreds of rich farm acres, besides houses, mills and banks, kinged it from the front seat of the center section.
  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.
    • 1957, Bertram Vivian Bowden (editor), Faster Than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines, page 302,
      If the machine does this, it will lose only one point, and as it is not looking far enough ahead, it cannot see that it has not prevented its opponent from kinging but only postponed the evil day.
    • 1986, Rick DeMarinis, The Burning Women of Far Cry, page 100,
      I was about to make a move that would corner a piece that she was trying to get kinged, but I slid my checker back […] .
  6. To dress and perform as a drag king.
    • 2008, Audrey Yue, King Victoria: Asian Drag Kings, Postcolonial Female Masculinity, and Hybrid Sexuality in Australia, in Fran Martin, Peter Jackson, Audrey Yue, Mark McLelland (editors), AsiaPacifQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities, page 266,
      Through the ex-centric diaspora, kinging in postcolonial Australia has become a site of critical hybridity where diasporic female masculinities have emerged through the contestations of "home" and "host" cultures.
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

king ‎(plural kings)

  1. Alternative form of qing (Chinese musical instrument)

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: women · cried · general · #360: king · nature · answered · thousand

Anagrams

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kenkä. Cognate with Finnish kenkä.

Noun

king ‎(genitive kinga, partitive kinga)

  1. shoe

Declension

Quotations

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish ceinn, cinn, genitive singular and nominative plural, respectively, of cenn ‎(“head”).

Noun

king m

  1. genitive singular of kione
  2. nominative plural of kione

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
king ching ging
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • “1 cenn” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English king.

Noun

king

  1. king

Etymology

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning ‎(“king”), from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz ‎(“king”), equivalent to kin +‎ -ing. Cognate with Scots king ‎(“king”), North Frisian köning ‎(“king”), West Frisian kening ‎(“king”), Dutch koning ‎(“king”), Low German Koning, Köning ‎(“king”), German König ‎(“king”), Danish konge ‎(“king”), Swedish konung, kung ‎(“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur ‎(“king”), Finnish kuningas ‎(“king”), Russian князь ‎(knjazʹ, “prince”), княги́ня ‎(knjagínja, “princess”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: kĭng, IPA(key): /kɪŋ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪŋ

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