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—kingless, adj. —kinglessness, n. —kinglike, adj./king/, n.1. a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people.2. (cap.) God or Christ.3. a person or thing preeminent in its class: a king of actors.4. a playing card bearing a picture of a king.5. Chess. the chief piece of each color, whose checkmating is the object of the game; moved one square at a time in any direction.6. Checkers. a piece that has been moved entirely across the board and has been crowned, thus allowing it to be moved in any direction.7. Entomol. a fertile male termite.8. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter K.v.t.9. to make a king of; cause to be or become a king; crown.10. Informal. to design or make (a product) king-size: The tobacco company is going to king its cigarettes.v.i.11. to reign as king.12. king it, to play the king; behave in an imperious or pretentious manner: He kinged it over all the other kids on the block.adj.13. Informal. king-size.[bef. 900; ME; OE cyng, cyni(n)g; c. G König, D koning, ON konungr, Sw konung, Dan konge. See KIN, -ING3]
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IMale sovereign over a nation or territory, of higher rank than any other ruler except an emperor.A king's female counterpart is a queen. Some kings have been elected, as in medieval Germany, but most inherit the position. The community may concentrate all spiritual and political power in the sovereign, or power may be shared constitutionally with other government institutions. Some kings are heads of state but not heads of government. In the past, some were regarded as semidivine representatives of God on Earth; others were viewed as gods in their own right or supernatural beings who became gods after death (see divine kingship). Since the 17th century the power held by monarchs, particularly those in western Europe, has been widely regarded as deriving from the people. See also constitutional monarchy; khan; monarchy; pharaoh; tsar.II(as used in expressions)King PhilipCole Nat KingFrederick the Winter KingAlaskan king crabKing George's WarKing Philip's WarKing William's WarKing B.B.King Billie JeanKing LarryKing Martin Luther Jr.King RufusKing Stephen EdwinKing William Lyon MackenzieKing William Rufus de VaneMad King Ludwigthe Sun Kingthe Citizen KingMerton Robert KingOliver KingVidor King WallisHiram King WilliamsLeslie Lynch King Jr.Lovelace Augusta Ada King countess ofMary Queen of ScotsQueen Anne's laceQueen Anne's WarQueen's University at KingstonSheba Queen ofQueen MargotQueen ElleryKings Mountain Battle ofKings Valley of the* * *
▪ monarcha supreme ruler, sovereign over a nation or a territory, of higher rank than any other secular ruler except an emperor, to whom a king may be subject. Kingship, a worldwide phenomenon, can be elective, as in medieval Germany, but is usually hereditary; it may be absolute or constitutional and usually takes the form of a monarchy, although dyarchies have been known, as in ancient Sparta, where two kings ruled jointly. The king has often stood as mediator between his people and their god, or, as in ancient Sumer, as the god's representative.Sometimes he himself has been regarded as divine and has become the key figure in fertility rituals; such religions often ultimately required the death either of the king himself or of an official substitute as a sacrifice to the gods. The concept of divinity, brought in from Egypt, characterized the Hellenistic Age, and was later revived by the Roman emperors. The Christian Roman emperors assumed authority as representatives of God, and, in medieval political theory, kingship was early regarded as to some extent analogous with the priesthood, the ceremony of anointing at the coronation becoming highly significant. The absolute monarchies of the 16th to 18th century were often strengthened by the establishment of nationalist churches; but from the 17th century in England and, later, in other countries, kingship was made constitutional, royal power being held to derive from the people rather than from God.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
