king

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a male sovereign

   ruler of a kingdom

2. 2
   noun

   preeminence in a particular category or group or field

   the lion is the king of beasts

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   The monarch with the most power and authority in a monarchy, regardless of sex.

   The British Parliament has had made it for it in the past the claim that it could do anything excepting convert a woman into a man.[…]And the high court [of Amsterdam] has done it by deciding that all officials and public servants shall take their oath of allegiance not to Queen Wilhelmina but to King Wilhelmina.

5. 5
   noun

   A male leader of a traditional Aboriginal group, often used as a title by colonists.

   Old Culwaddy the ‘king’, squatting by the galley fire, looked up questioningly[.]

6. 6
   noun

   A powerful or majorly influential person; someone who holds the preeminent position.

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

7. 7
   noun

   Something that has a preeminent position.

   In times of financial panic, cash is king.

8. 8
   noun

   A component of certain games.

   The objective of each player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. […] If the arbiter observes both kings are in check, or a pawn stands on the rank furthest from its starting position, he/she shall wait until the next move is completed.

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. Doublet of cyning and knez. Cognate with Scots king, keeng (“king”), North Frisian kining, köning (“king”), Saterland Frisian Kening (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Norwegian konge (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knja…