throne

From Middle English trone, from Old French trone, from Latin thronus, from Ancient Greek θρόνος (thrónos, “chair, throne”). Superseded earlier seld (“seat, throne”).

der

He approached the throne reverently.

9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could nūber, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, & tongues, stood before the throne, & before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palmes in their hands:
10 And cryed with a loude voice, saying, Saluation to our God, which sitteth vpon the Throne, and vnto the Lambe.
11 And all the Angels stood round about the Throne, and about the Elders, and the foure beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glorie, and wisedome, and thankesgiuing, and honour, & power, and might be vnto our God for euer & euer, Amen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 7:9–12:

An impressive seat used by a monarch, often on a raised dais in a throne room and reserved for formal occasions.

Queen Victoria sat upon the throne of England for 63 years.

The prince's newborn baby is fifth in line to the throne.

Thou shalt be ouer my house, and according vnto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater then thou.

Stephen reigned from 1135-1154, that nasty period of our history dubbed 'The Anarchy', when forces loyal to Stephen contested the throne with those of Henry I's daughter Matilda, who by rights should have been queen. Stephen, her cousin, plonked his own posterior on the throne.

2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 52:

(figuratively) Leadership, particularly the position of a monarch.


throne room

The economy of space is a marvel; the studio may seem cluttered, a kind of Middle-earthian junkyard ringed by the stalks of lighting rigs, but one glance into the monitor and there is Théoden’s massive throne room, carved straight out of the pages of Tolkien’s vast antiquity.

2005, Andrew O’Hehir, “The Fellowship of the Ring”, in Peter Jackson: From Gore to Mordor, Plexus, →ISBN, page 138:

A room used for formal public audiences by a monarch.


king

kings (plural)
kyng (alternative archaic)
kynge (alternative archaic)
kinge (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: king

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: K@Shoulder K@Abdomen

→ Burmese: ကင် (kang)

→ Isubu: kinge

→ Japanese: キング (kingu)

→ Korean: 킹 (king)

→ Maori: kīngi

→ Marshallese: kiin̄

→ Thai: คิง (king)

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 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 (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (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”).
The verb is inherited from Middle English kyngen, *kingen (“To perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun king, kyng.

Audio — the king

акрал

a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

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

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


queen

queens (plural)
queene (alternative obsolete)
quene (alternative obsolete)
queyne (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: kwin

⇒ American Sign Language: G@Shoulder-PalmDown G@Abdomen-PalmDown

→ Burmese: ကွင်း (kwang:)

→ German: Queen

→ Japanese: クイーン (kuīn), クィーン (kwīn)

→ Korean: 퀸 (kwin)

→ Marshallese: kwiin

→ Maori: kuīni

→ Sikaiana: kuini

→ Spanish: cuina

→ Thai: ควีน (kwiin)

From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English Regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.

gloss

"wife"; > Middle Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="gml">quene</i> (“elderly woman”)

cog

αδερφή f (aderfí, literally “Sister, From the same uterus”)

But our mercifull Queene Elizabeth hath not burned the popiſh prieſtes on the alters where they committed idolatrie in ſaying of Maſſe, and worſhipped a piece of breade for the bodie of Chriſte (which ſhee might haue done if ſhee would) and yet you count not her for a godly and mercifull Queene.

1582, Thomas Lupton, The Christian Against the Jesuite, London, retrieved 2022-01-14, page 50v:

In 1952, at the last accession, there were only eight members of the new entity taking shape in the outline of the British Empire. The Queen was the head of state in seven of them, and she was proclaimed Head of the Commonwealth to accommodate India’s lone status as a republic.

2017 March 17, Sam Knight, “‘London Bridge Is Down’: The Secret Plan for the Days After the Queen’s Death”, in The Guardian, London, retrieved 2022-01-16:


mikado

en-noun

mikado (countable and uncountable, plural mikados or mikado)

Borrowed from Japanese 御門 (mikado), from 御 (mi, “honorable”) + 門 (kado, “gate, portal”).

com

The mikados of Japan are its emperors.

An interval of eighty years, occupied by two mikado of whose doings nothing is recorded, brings us to the celebrated female sovereign who invaded and conquered Korea.

1878 July 1, “The Mythology and Religious Worship of the Ancient Japanese”, in The Westminster Review, volume CX, number CCXVII; New Series, volume LIV, number I, London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 30:

Our great Mikado, virtuous man,
When he to rule our land began,
Resolved to try a plan whereby
Young men might best be steadied.

(literary, countable) Any emperor of Japan.


kingdom

kingdoms (plural)
kingdome (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English kingdom, kyngdom, from Old English cyningdōm from Proto-Germanic *kuningadōmaz, equivalent to king + -dom. Cognate with Scots kingdom, West Frisian keuningdom, Dutch koningdom, German Königtum, Danish kongedømme, Swedish kungadöme, and Icelandic konungdómur.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Germanic *kunją
Proto-Germanic *-ingaz
Proto-Germanic *kuningaz
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos
Proto-Germanic *dōmaz
Proto-Germanic *-dōmaz
Proto-Germanic *kuningadōmaz
Proto-West Germanic *kuningadōm
Old English cyningdōm
Middle English kingdom
English kingdom

etymon

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

In 1924 the Hashemite King Hussein was driven out of the Hedjaz by Ibn Saud, and a state of war sprang up between the new kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Trans-Jordan.

1956 March, R. C. Blaker, “The Hedjaz Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 167:

A few other key remappings occur when you use the United Kingdom country...

1993, Allen Wyatt, W Edward Tiley, Jon Paisley, Using MS-DOS 6.2:

‘Lucknow is not a village. It is a city with a thousand years of civilization. It was the capital of the Awadh kingdom.ʼ

2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 11:

A realm having a king or queen as its actual or nominal sovereign.

keurajeuën

realm having as supreme ruler a king or queen


RI

(monarchy) rex imperator (“king-emperor”) or regina imperatrix (“queen-empress”); the initials by which a British monarch signed documents after his or her name from 1877 until 1947.


sovereign

sovereigns (plural)
soveraign (alternative archaic)
soveraigne (alternative archaic)
sovran (alternative archaic)
sovring (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
sovrin (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

→ Irish: sabhran

→ Russian: соверен (soveren)

→ Scottish Gaelic: sòbharan

→ Welsh: sofren

From Middle English sovereyn, from Old French soverain (whence also modern French souverain), from Vulgar Latin *superānus (compare Italian sovrano, Spanish soberano) from Latin super (“above”). Spelling influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. Doublet of soprano, from the same Latin root via Italian. See also suzerain, foreign.

souverain

one who is not a subject to a ruler or nation

en:coin with nominal value of one pound sterling

A gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of one pound sterling but in practice used as a bullion coin.


crown

→ Japanese: クラウン (kuraun)

→ Korean: 크라운 (keuraun)

→ Maori: karauna

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”).
* (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

doublet

Before so many of Europe's crowns came tumbling off the heads of their royal owners, Continental Europe could show a rich variety in the matter of royal trains.

1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 250:

en:royal, imperial or princely headdress

(clothing, monarchy) A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.


prince

From Middle English prince, from Anglo-Norman prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) + capiō (“seize, take”). Cognate with Old English fruma (“prince, ruler”). Doublet of princeps and principe.
Displaced native Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling; Middle English kinebarn, from Old English cynebearn; Middle English alder, from Old English ealdor; and Middle English drighten, from Old English dryhten.

af

A male member of a royal family other than the ruler; especially (in the United Kingdom) the son or grandson of the monarch.


princess

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.

And running all with greedie ioyfulnesse / To faire Irena, at her feet did fall, / And her adored with due humblenesse, / As their true Liege and Princesse naturall […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(now archaic) A female ruler or monarch; a queen.


emperor

emperors (plural)
emperour (alternative)

From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar.

In imperial China, it was often a responsibility of the emperor to evaluate his predecessor after the latter's death.

They asked Julius Caesar, the valiant Roman emperor, what was the best death. He answered, that which is unexpected, which comes suddenly and unforeseen

1885, John Ormsby, transl., Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes, Volume 2 Chapter XXIV:

In 690 Wu usurped the throne and became Emperor herself, which proved a unique event in the history of China.

1994, Het Spinhuis, Transactions: Essays in Honor of Jeremy F. Boissevain:

After his death in 683 she ruled for seven years as regent and then, deposing her son, became emperor herself, the only woman in Chinese history to hold the title.

2002, The Heritage of World Civilizations: To 1700, page 226:

Empress, imperial regent, and even emperor herself (r. 797–802), Irene was an important and powerful figure at the Byzantine court in the late eighth and early ninth century.

2008, Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation, page 211:

Originally the wife of the emperor, she engineered the imperial succession so that she could serve first as regent to a boy emperor and then as emperor herself.

2013, Voyages in World History, page 213:

Where is Sindbad? I have a summons for him direct from the galactic emperor herself. He is to be brought here immediately to give an explanation for his recent actions.

2016, Commander Pakydus, Sindbad & the 7 Galaxies:

Any monarch ruling an empire, irrespective of gender, with "empress" contrasting to mean the consort of an emperor.

The Investiture Controversy was a conflict between the Emperor and the Pope.

(political theory) Specifically, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire; the world-monarch.


empress

empresses (plural)
emperess (alternative obsolete)
empresse (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English emperice, emperesse, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empereriz, from Latin imperatrix, equivalent to emperor + -ess. Doublet of imperatrix. Compare modern French impératrice.

Sit downe by her: adorned with my Crowne,
As if thou wert the Empreſſe of the world.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

The female monarch (ruler) of an empire.


principality

en-noun

principality (countable and uncountable, plural principalities)

From Middle English principalte, principalite, from Anglo-Norman principalté, Middle French principalté, from Late Latin prīncipālitās, from Latin prīncipālis (“principal”) + -tās. Equivalent to principal + -ity.

At this time Russia consisted of a dozen or so principalities, which were frequently at war with one another.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 14:

(countable) A region or sovereign nation headed by a prince or princess.


empire

/ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/

From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of empery and imperium.

the Russian empire

States and empires fail when they are no longer the solution, they are the problem.

2022 February 7, Charles Hugh Smith, How Empires Die:

A political state, often a monarchy, that has achieved a much greater current size than its initial size by conquering surrounding territories, cities or nations.


duchy

From Middle English duche, from Anglo-Norman duché, from Old French duc, or from Medieval Latin ducātus, from Latin dux. Doublet of ducat.

A dominion or region ruled by a duke or duchess.


monarch

From Middle French monarque, from Late Latin monarcha, from Ancient Greek μονάρχης (monárkhēs), variant of μόναρχος (mónarkhos, “sole ruler”), from μόνος (mónos, “only”) + ἀρχός (arkhós, “leader”), equivalent to mono- + -arch.
* (butterfly): See monarch butterfly.

Never was monarch better fear'd and lov'd / Than is your Majesty.

1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 25:

constitutional monarchy
constitutional monarchy

The ruler of an absolute monarchy or the head of state of a constitutional monarchy.


tenno

tennos (plural)
Tenno (alternative)
Tennou (alternative)

Borrowed from Japanese 天皇(てんのう) (tennō), from Middle Chinese 天皇 (then hwang) with the original sense of “heavenly sovereign”.

The emperor of Japan as head of state and the head of the Japanese imperial family.


czar

See tsar. The spelling czar, the older spelling in English, comes from Sigismund von Herberstein's Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii ("Notes on Muscovite Affairs") of 1549. The alternative tsar began to replace it in the 19th century.

drug czar

cyberczar

The federal mental health czar is calling for more money to expand services to help people suffering amid the social isolation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic […]

2020 May 8, Jayne O'Donnell, “'Deaths of despair': Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug deaths as high as 150k, study says”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 2020-05-09:

(informal, US politics, Philippine politics) An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.


tsar

tsars (plural)
tsari (plural rare)
czar (alternative)
tzar (alternative)
csar (alternative)

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: ज़ार (zār), त्सार (tsār)

Urdu: زار (zār), تسار (tsār)

→ Irish: sár

→ Japanese: ツァー (tsā)

Borrowed from Russian царь (carʹ), from Old East Slavic цьсарь (cĭsarĭ), from Proto-Slavic *cěsařь, from a Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *kaisaraz, from Latin Caesar. Doublet of Caesar and Kaiser. The spelling tsar began to replace the older czar in the nineteenth century. Compare Byzantine Greek Τζαῖσαρ (Tzaîsar).

[W]hy, in the name of common sense, should the English call the Czar (tsar) of Russia razc?

1832 August 1, W. Barnes, “On the Origin of Language”, in Gentleman's Magazine, London, page 129:

I vuz never beink too krazy about any of dose tsari.

1996 May 19, Jim Collier, “King Arthur Discoveries”, in soc.history.medieval (Usenet), archived from the original on 2025-06-07:

>There IS a difference between the Russians as a group of people and Soviet communism!
Ha ha ha! Know any other good ones? First their^([sic]) were the plain old tsari, then the red tsari (Stalin, etc) and know Putin is the 'new look' tsar. But the same beastly imperialist bullying goes on.

2004 April 5, «Pas de deux», “Yes Virginia (Erin), there are bad people in the world, and formewr KGB head Valdimir Putin is one of them....”, in soc.culture.baltics (Usenet), archived from the original on 2025-06-07:

At that time Mongol princes faced the challenge of choosing from three options: either combine all their forces and fight against the Manchus, which were stronger and had taken over all of China at that time, or approach the Russian Tsari as did the Buryat and Khalmig Mongol princedoms or to follow the way of Inner Mongolia and accept relative autonomy given by the Manchu.

2013, Kherlen Badarch, “Post-imperial Mongolia (1368–1691)”, in Integrating New Values into Mongolian Public Management (KWI-Gutachten; 8), Universitätsverlag Potsdam [Potsdam University Press], →ISBN, →ISSN, chapter 4 (Mongolian traditional legacy), section 4 (Mongolian statehood historic tradition), page 84:

(historical) An emperor of Russia (1547 to 1917) and of some South Slavic states.


tsarina

head

tsarina (plural tsarinas, masculine tsar)

tsarinas (plural)
tsar (masculine)
czarina (alternative)
tzarina (alternative)

Via Italian czarina or Spanish czarina, from German Czarin, Zarin, feminine form of Czar, Zar. By surface analysis, tsar + -ina.

The biggest Russian czarina was Catherine the Great, a German, who incidentally made Crimea part of Russia.

2022 January 25, Katrin Bennhold, quoting Matthias Platzeck, “Where Is Germany in the Ukraine Standoff? Its Allies Wonder.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(historical) An empress of several Eastern European countries, especially Russia, or the wife of a tsar.


interregnum

en-noun

interregnum (plural interregnums or interregna)

interregnums (plural)
interregna (plural)

/ˌɪntəɹˈɹɛɡnəm/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-interregnum.wav

فترة

period of time between the end of a sovereign's reign and the accession of another sovereign

(politics) A period of time during which normal executive leadership is suspended or interrupted.


imperial

imperial (countable and uncountable, plural imperials)

From Middle English imperial, from Old French imperial, from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis, from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“form of in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”). Displaced Old English cāserlīċ.

der

There are who say the sonnet's meted maze
Is all too fettered for the poet's powers,
Compelled to crowd his flush and airy flowers
Like pots of tall imperials, ill at ease.

1816, John Freeman Milward Dovaston, The Sonnet:


orb

From Middle English orbe, from Old French orbe, from Latin orbis (“circle, orb”). Compare orbit.

(military) A body of soldiers drawn up in a circle, as for defence, especially infantry to repel cavalry.


shah

shahs (plural)
schah (alternative archaic)
šâh (alternative)
šāh (alternative)
shāh (alternative)
s̲h̲āh (alternative)

From Persian شاه (šâh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāh), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/). Doublet of check. More at chess.

A supreme ruler in some West Asian, Central Asian or South Asian nations.


crown prince

crown princes (plural)
Crown Prince (alternative)

A person designated and raised to become the next emperor.


royal

en-adj

royal (comparative royaler or royaller, superlative royalest or royallest)

royaler (comparative)
royaller (comparative)
royalest (superlative)
royallest (superlative)
r. (alternative abbreviation)
roial (alternative obsolete)
roiall (alternative obsolete)
royall (alternative obsolete)
royaler (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English royal, from Old French roial (Modern French royal), from Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal (“befitting a king”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real. Displaced native Old English cynelīċ.

doublet

How doth that royal Merchant good Anthonio;

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 175, column 2:

Having the air or demeanour of a monarch; illustrious; magnanimous; of more than common size or excellence.

(boxing, military) Free-for-all, especially involving multiple combatants.


hetman

From Polish hetman, probably from Middle High German houbetman, heuptman (“commander”), from Old High German houbitman, from Proto-West Germanic *haubidamann. Compare modern German Hauptmann (“captain”), Haupt, Mann. The Polish e in hetman attests to a borrowing from an East Central German dialect, in which Middle High German -öu- gives -ē-. Doublet of head man.

Title used by the second-highest military commander in Poland and Lithuania (15th to 18th century).

getman

a historical military commander in various Eastern European countries


coronation

/kɒɹəˈneɪʃn̩/

/ˌkɔɹəˈneɪʃ(ə)n/

Cecil Beaton
Coronation of the Virgin
Elizabeth II

From Late Middle English coronacion, coronacioun (“crowning of a sovereign or his consort; powers conferred by this ceremony; crowning of the Virgin Mary; (figuratively) placing of a crown of thorns on Jesus; act of rewarding a person with eternal life, happiness, honour, etc.”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman coronacion and Old French coronacion, coronation, from Late Latin *corōnātiōnem, from Latin corōnō (“to coronate, crown (with a crown, garland, etc.)”) + -ātiōnem (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Corōnō is derived from corōna (“garland, wreath; crown”).

ref

From the collection of the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy.

nb...

corenacioun, corenacyon, coronacyon, coronacyone, coronatyown

der

[A]nd if vvee be Spouſes of this Bridegroom [Jesus], vvee cannot but (as vvee are exhorted) rejoyce in that the marriage of the Lambe is come, and the day of our ovvn coronation vvith an incorruptible Crovvn of glory.

1612, Thomas Taylor, “A Commentary upon the Epistle of St. Paul Written to Titus. [Second Chapter.]”, in The Works of the Judicious and Learned Divine Thomas Taylor […], volume II, London: […] Tho[mas] Ratcliffe, for John Bartlet the Elder, […], published 1659, →OCLC, page 352:

(literally, also attributively) An act of investing with a crown; a crowning.

King Charles III’s coronation is to be much less elaborate compared to his mother’s.

Some reaſons of this double Corronation / I haue poſſeſſt you vvith, and thinke them ſtrong.

c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 15, column 1:

[John] Fal[staff]. VVhat diſeaſe haſt thou? / [Peter] Bul[lcalf]. A horſon cold ſir, a cough ſir, vvhich I cought vvith ringing in the Kings affaires vpon his coronation day ſir.

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

[T]he Lady Anne, / VVhom the King hath in ſecrecie long married, / This day vvas vievv'd in open, as his Queene, / Going to Chappell; and the voyce is novv / Onely about her Corronation.

1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 223, column 1:

It is well known that at the coronation of kings and queens, even modern ones, a certain curious process of seasoning them for their functions is gone through. […] Certain I am, however, that a king's head is solemnly oiled at his coronation, even as a head of salad. […] But the only thing to be considered here, is this—what kind of oil is used at coronations? Certainly it cannot be olive oil, nor macassar oil, nor castor oil, nor bear's oil, nor train oil, nor cod-liver oil. What then can it possibly be, but sperm oil in its unmanufactured, unpolluted state, the sweetest of all oils? Think of that, ye loyal Britons! we whalemen supply your kings and queens with coronation stuff!

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Postscript”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 124:

[George Friederic] Handel's coronation anthem, God save the King, was played by Dr. Camidge [i.e., John Camidge II] on the organ, with sublime effect. The minister and the music were made for each other.

1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Religion”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, pages 219–220:

Over the mantelpiece, which is high, with brass candlesticks and two ‘Coronation’ tumblers in enamel, hangs a picture of Venice, from one of [William Thomas] Stead’s Christmas Numbers – nevertheless, satisfactory enough.

c. 1909 (date written; published 1934), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Collier’s Friday Night”, in Three Plays: A Collier’s Friday Night, The Daughter-in-Law, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1969, →OCLC, act I, page 19:

King Charles [III] and Queen Camilla have been crowned on a historic day of pageantry, capped by cheering by crowds in front of Buckingham Palace. Thousands packed the Mall despite the rain, after a deeply religious Coronation service at Westminster Abbey and a huge procession through London. […] The Coronation did not formally change the King's status. Charles became King of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms in September, when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died after 70 years on the throne. […] This time, the ceremony emphasised diversity and inclusion, with more multi-faith elements than any previous coronation, with contributions from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Sikh representatives.

2023 May 6, Sean Coughlan, “Coronation: King Charles and Queen Camilla Crowned in Historic Ceremony”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2023-05-06:

(specifically, also attributively) An act or the ceremony of formally investing a sovereign or the sovereign's consort with a crown and other insignia of royalty, on or shortly after their accession to the sovereignty.

bekroning

act or the ceremony of formally investing a sovereign or the sovereign’s consort with a crown and other insignia of royalty

A completion or culmination of something.

A success in the face of little or no opposition.


pretender

/pɹɪˈtɛndəɹ/

претенде́нт

one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something

Pretensor, a pretender, he that purposeth.

Pretendente, a pretendent, a pretender, an intender, a meaner.

(obsolete, rare) One who intends or purposes.

He, of the two pretenders, that best loves me.

1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1:

An Earles daughter, […] whose mother not allowing him to come as a pretender shee made apointmentt with him and mett him att her cousin’s howse.

ante 1699, Lady Halkett, Autobiog. 17, (Camden)

It is not my design to dispose of Irene to the most noble, but most wealthy of the Pretenders to her Love.

1728 (1732), Eliza Heywood, Mme. de Gomez’s Belle A. 2.235

One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.

(obsolete) One who aspires to the hand of a woman in marriage; a suitor, a wooer.

If inteſtine Broils allarm the Hive, / (For two Pretenders oft for Empire ſtrive)

1697, Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 125:

I Think it necessary to acquaint you, that I have received Advices this Morning from Ostend, that the French Fleet sailed from Dunkirk, Tuesday at three in the Morning, Northward, with the Pretender on board; as also, that Sir George Byng had notice of it the same Day at ten: And he being very much superior to the Enemy both in Number and Strength, I make no question, but, by God’s Blessing, he will soon be able to give a good Account of them.

1708 March 11th, Anne Regina, The Queen’s Speech to both Houses, in The History and Proceedings of the House of Commons, volume IV: 1706–1713, London: Chandler (1742), § iv: “First Parliament of Great Britain”, page 92

She [Q. Anne] also fixed a new Designation on the Pretended Prince of Wales, and called him the Pretender; he was so called in a new Set of Addresses […] upon this occasion […] made to the Queen.

the provost’s enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced a syllable in his own bedchamber

1824 June, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 238:

The pretender […] had friends in the tory government more sincere probably and zealous than [the earl of] Oxford.

Wullenweber […] turned to the nearest protestant pretender, Duke Christian, and offered him his assistance to obtain the crown.

1845, S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref. 3.633

Every province […] had its own Augustus. All these pretenders could not be rightful Emperors.

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 442:

A claimant to a throne or the office of a ruler; originally in a neutral sense, but now always applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title.

By how straight a Rule […] must that Pretender carry himselfe, who is to saile thorow the sea of this world, hoping for a fortune from another mans hand?

1622, Mabbe, Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf 1.214

[…]; to consider the direct purposes of God against his enemies, rather than the sinister supplantations of pretenders to places in court; […]

a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon XXX”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 8:

Every one is a pretender and a runner; but few carry the prize.

The issue of the eldest son excludes all other pretenders, as the son himself (if living) would have done.

1766, William Blackstone, chapter 14, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 218:

A candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders.

1780 May 25th, Johnson, Let. to Mrs. Thrale

I would sooner gain five thousand pounds by restoring you to your rights, than fifty thousand in establishing any of these pretenders in their base assumptions.

1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 238:

A pretender / To the art, I truely honor, and ſubſcribe / To your maieſties opinion.

1631 (first performance), Philip Massinger, The Emperour of the East. A Tragæ-comœdie. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, published 1632, →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

Make it a feast, and perfit your great injustice / In the surrendringe up this false pretender / To the correction of the law, […]

1631 May 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Philip Massinger, Believe as You List: A Tragedy (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XXVII), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by Richards, […], published 1849, →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

But this pretence of Covenant with God, is so evident a lye, even in the pretenders own consciences, that it is not onely an act of an unjust, but also a vile, and unmanly disposition.

1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter 18, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 2nd part (Of Common-wealth), page 89:

[…]But, I answer; that it is not so easy an Acquirement as a few ignorant Pretenders may imagine.

1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page xlv:

That honour has been long The boast of mere pretenders to the name.

1782, William Cowper, “The Diverting History of John Gilpin, […]”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], published 1785, →OCLC, page 492:

I presume that there is no gentleman in Europe that has not heard of the house of Barry of Barryogue, of the kingdom of Ireland, than which a more famous name is not to be found in Gwillim or D’Hozier; and though, as a man of the world, I have learned to despise heartily the claims of some pretenders to high birth who have no more genealogy than the lacquey who cleans my boots, […]

1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion.”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 3:

Simon, a Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and supernatural powers.

1848 (1850), Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art 122

Neither will he be able to distinguish the pretender in medicine from the true physician, nor between any other true and false professor of knowledge.

1870, Benjamin Jowett, Charmides, or Temperance, translation of original by Plato:

One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.

A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.


dynasty

From Middle French dynastie, from Late Latin dynastia, from Ancient Greek δυναστεία (dunasteía, “power, dominion”).

During the Ming dynasty, China was ruled by the Zhu family.

(East Asian history) The polity or historical era under the rule of a certain dynasty.

朝代

era or polity under a certain dynasty, especially in East Asian history


reign

From Middle English regnen, from Old French reignier, from the Latin verb rēgnō, and the noun rēgnum. Doublet of regnum. Displaced native Old English rīċe (“a reign”) and ricsian (“to reign”).

And the Fox guileful, and most covetous; / That neither pleased was, to have the reign / Twixt them divided into even twain

1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:

The territory or sphere over which a kingdom; empire; realm; dominion, etc. is ruled.


autarchy

en-noun

autarchy (countable and uncountable, plural autarchies)

From Medieval Latin autarchia, from Koine Greek αὐταρχία (autarkhía, “absolute power, sovereignty, autocracy”), from αὔταρχος (aútarkhos, “autocratic”), from αὐτ- (aut-, “self”) + ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule, govern”).

af

Like Philip's, Franco's autarchy was shrouded in religiosity—not Christianity alone, but also a sort of dim Wagnerian vision of hero-gods and Valhallas, a gloomy level of devotion on which paganism, Catholicism and the apotheosis of the State could conveniently be mingled.

1964, Jan Morris, “Envoi: State of Being”, in Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:

(government) Autocracy (absolute rule by a single person).


regal

en-adj

regal (comparative more regal, superlative most regal)

more regal (comparative)
most regal (superlative)
regall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English regal, from Old French regal (“regal, royal”), from Latin rēgālis (“royal, kingly”), from rex (“king”); also regere (“to rule”). Doublet of royal (“belonging to a monarch”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real.

doublet

regal authority

the regal title

He made a scorn of his regal oath.

1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:


globus cruciger

en-noun

globus cruciger (plural globus crucigers)

/ˌɡləʊ̯bəs ˈkɹuːsɪd͡ʒə/

From Latin globus cruciger (“globe bearing a cross”).

bor

A globe topped by a cross, used as a symbol of royal power.


crown jewels

The crown jewels in the United Kingdom are heavily guarded and anyone trying to steal them will certainly have a hard time.

(literally) The jewelry that accompany the office of rulership in a monarchy, i.e. crown, scepter, signet ring, etc.


potentate

From Middle English potentat, from Old French, from Late Latin potentātus (“rule, political power”), from Latin potēns (“powerful, strong”), the active present participle of possum (“I am able”).

der

But Kings and mightieſt Potentates muſt die,
For that's the end of humane miſerie.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

She was now one of a group of oriental beauties who, in the second act of the comic opera, were paraded by the vizier before the new potentate as the treasures of his harem.

Life for ordinary barons in Outremer Jerusalem was probably better than for kings in Europe, where even potentates wore unlaundered wool and lived in bare-stone draughty keeps with rough furniture.

2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 269:


basileus

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βασιλεύς (basileús, “chief, king”).

bor

For two centuries its towers and domes were to rise in the heavens, drawing the attention of Emperors and Basilei, of Popes and Patriarchs.

Although portrayals of basileis of the eleventh century wearing the loros in the traditional manner are not lacking, I cannot cite a Byzantine example of metropolitan origin later than 1100.

1990, Ernst Kitzinger, The Mosaics of St. Mary’s of the Admiral in Palermo, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, →ISBN, page 192:

The revitalization of the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of the energetic and capable basilei of the Comnens dynasty: Alexios I (1081-1118), John II (1118-1143) and Manuel (1143-1180), and the wars with a Rum Sultanate troubled by dynastic fights drastically diminished its possessions in Anatolia.

2003, Victor Spinei, The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century, Romanian Cultural Institute, →ISBN, page 193:

It is quite easy to establish the identity of these “Roman princes” who reoccupied Pannonia after Attila’s death: they were the basilei from Constantinople who, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, claimed to be the only successors of the Caesars (around the turn of the 9ᵗʰ century they began to call themselves “basilei of the Romans”—“basileis ton Romanon” or “Romaion”).

2007, Transylvanian Review, volume 16, Romanian Cultural Foundation, page 16:

In our third example, the tyrant Nabis usurped power from the traditional, dual basileis of Sparta, then had them executed.

2017, Michael Martin, City of the Sun: Development and Popular Resistance in the Pre-Modern West, New York, N.Y.: Algora Publishing, →ISBN, page 64:

The basileis of the Iron Age were now replaced with various appointed and elected magistrates.

2020, David B. Small, “Institutional Evolution of Ancient Greece”, in Dmitri M[ikhailovich] Bondarenko, Stephen A. Kowalewski, David B. Small, editors, The Evolution of Social Institutions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (World-Systems Evolution and Global Futures), Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 274:

It would probably be worth seeking a possible connection-and-overlay between the name of one of the Byzantine basilei of the 9th century and the godfather of Boris I, Michael III, and that of the Bulgarian ruler Boris-Michael himself, who also lived in that age.

2020, Tsvetelin Stepanov, translated by Daria Manova, Waiting for the End of the World: European Dimensions, 950–1200 (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450; 57), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 251:

“Peter and Maria basilei of Bugaria,” “Peter and Maria in Christ autocrats of the Bulgarians,” and “Peter and Maria in Christ august autocrats and basilei.”

2023, Christian Raffensperger, Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe, 1000-1200, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:


philosopher king

en-noun

philosopher king (plural philosopher kings)

philosopher kings (plural)
philosopher-king (alternative)

The concept comes from Plato's Republic (circa 375 BCE), which considers the ideal rulers of a city state.

(philosophy) A hypothetical ideal ruler, trained in philosophy, who has a full understanding of the Platonic ideal of the Form of the Good, and uses this for the benefit of the state.

He flies much about from place to place; now at Potsdam, now at Berlin, at Charlottenburg, Reinsberg; nothing loath to run whither business calls him, and appear in public: the gazetteer world, as we noticed, which has been hitherto a most mute world, breaks out here and there into a kind of husky jubilation over the great things he is daily doing, and rejoices in the prospect of having a Philosopher King;[…]

1862, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XI, page 6:

[…] what has been said about the State and the government is not a mere dream[…] that is to say, when the true philosopher kings are born in a State, one or more of them, despising the honours of this present world which they deem mean and worthless, […]

1871, Benjamin Jowett, transl., Republic, translation of Πολιτεία by Plato:

But if the President was not the philosopher-king, what was he? After all he was a man who had spent much of his life at a University.

1919, John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace:

This philosopher king contrasts sharply with the cruel tyrant, who plays a memorable role in other parts of the Histories.

1987, Stewart Flory, The Archaic Smile of Herodotus:


R

(monarchy) rex (“king”) or regina (“queen”); the initial by which a British monarch signs documents after his or her name


Moghul

Borrowed from Iranian Persian مغول (moġul) (for the spellings moghul and mogul) or from Classical Persian مغول (muġūl, muġōl) and Urdu مغل (muġal) (for other spellings), an Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, ultimately from Middle Mongol ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ (mongɣol). More at Mughal.

Mogor (alternative obsolete)
Mogol (alternative)
Mogul (alternative)
Mughal (alternative)


regent

/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/

From Middle English regent, from Anglo-Norman regent, Middle French regent, and their source, Latin regēns (“ruling; ruler, governor, prince”), present participle of regō (“I govern, I steer”).

der

One who rules in place of the monarch, especially because the monarch is too young, absent, or disabled.


tsarist

czarist (alternative)
tzarist (alternative)


autocracy

en-noun

autocracy (countable and uncountable, plural autocracies)

→ Malay: autokrasi

/ɔːˈtɒkɹəsi/

From auto- + -cracy, from Ancient Greek αὐτοκρατία (autokratía, “A system of government by one person with absolute power.”), from αὐτός (autós, “single, self, same, alone”) + κράτος (krátos, “power”) + -ία (-ía, “feminine abstract nouns suffix”); see also Ancient Greek αὐτοκρατής (autokratḗs, “one who governs alone”).

der

I want to be clear: This shift toward democracy and away from autocracy is no reason to break out the “mission accomplished” banner.

2022 December 1, John Avlon, “Opinion: The tide is turning against autocracy”, in CNN:

(uncountable) A form of government in which unlimited power is held by a single individual.

The will of the people of Ukraine to defend their democracy is a reminder that autocracies cannot ultimately overcome free people willing to defend their liberty.

Among those who study authoritarian regimes, a consensus has emerged that [US president Donald Trump's] early moves display common characteristics of burgeoning autocracies.

2025 May 9, Cameron Joseph, “They’ve watched democracies fail. They see it happening under Trump.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(countable) An instance of this government.


royalty

en-noun

royalty (countable and uncountable, plural royalties)

→ Danish: royalty

→ German: Royalty

→ Italian: royalty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: royalty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: royalty

→ Portuguese: royalty

→ Swedish: royalty

From Middle English royaltee, roialtee, royalte, from Old French roialté, roiauté, realté (compare earlier Old French realted (“realm, kingdom”)), from Vulgar Latin *rēgālitās, from Latin rēgālis, equivalent to royal + -ty. Doublet of regality.

The rank, status, power or authority of a monarch.


sceptre

sceptres (plural)
scepter (alternative US)

From Middle English septre, sceptre, from Old French sceptre, from Latin scēptrum, from Ancient Greek σκῆπτρον (skêptron, “staff, stick, baton”), from σκήπτω (skḗptō, “to prop, to support, to lean upon a staff”).

der

“Divine receptacle of excellence, let it not be deemed impertinent, or deviating from the rules of propriety, if I propound one queſtion which now labours in my breaſt; aſſuring me firſt, you will not let the ſceptre of true judgment depart from your right hand.”

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 11:

To the fleet he came / Bearing rich ranſom glorious to redeem / His daughter, and his hands charged with the wreath / And golden ſceptre of the God shaft-arm’d.

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book I.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 3:

But what had occupied him most was the robe he was to wear at his coronation, the robe of tissued gold, and the ruby-studded crown, and the sceptre with its rows and rings of pearls.

1891, Oscar Wilde, “The Young King”, in A House of Pomegranates, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine & Co […], →OCLC, page 6:

An ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch as a symbol of power.


scepter

Edwards great linage by the mothers ſide,
 Fiue hundred yeeres hath helde the ſcepter vp,

1596, [attributed to William Shakespeare; Thomas Kyd], The Raigne of King Edward the Third: […], London: […] [T. Scarlet] for Cuthbert Burby, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:


maharaja

maharajas (plural)
maharajah (alternative)
maharana (alternative)
maharanah (alternative)

/ˌmɑ.hɑˈɹɑː.d͡ʒə/

/ˌmɑ.hɑˈɹɑː.d͡ʒɑ/

/ˌmɑ.həˈɹɑː.d͡ʒə/

Borrowed from Hindi महाराजा (mahārājā). First attested in 1698.

I speak from a very intimate knowledge of their ways and habits after having spent a very happy twenty years amongst them with friends in every degree, from the Maharaja himself to some of the humblest coolies.

1909, John Claude White, Sikhim and Bhutan, pages 7–8:

Benny: Hey, T.C., what's a maharaja?
Top Cat: What's a what?
Benny: A maharaja.
Top Cat: Oh, do I look like Daniel Webster? I didn't write no dictionary.

1961 October 4, “The Maharajah of Pookajee” (2:33 from the start), in Top Cat, season 1, episode 2:

A Hindu monarch ranking above a raja, an emperor.


sultan

en-noun

sultan (countable and uncountable, plural sultans or (rare, only in certain senses) salateen)

sultans (plural)
salateen (plural rare)
sultân (alternative)
sulṭān (alternative)

→ Chinese: 蘇丹 /苏丹 (sūdān)

From French sultan, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “strength, authority, ruler”). (compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón) and Hebrew סוּלְטָן (sultán)). Doublet of soldan.

der

Here from the king's mountain view
Here from the wild dream come true
Feast like a sultan, I do
On treasures and flesh never few

A hereditary ruler in various Muslim states (sultanate), varying from petty principalities (as in Yemen), often vassal of a greater ruler, to independent realms, such as Oman, Brunei, Morocco (until 1956) or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire.


tsarism

en-noun

tsarism (usually uncountable, plural tsarisms)

tsarisms (plural)
czarism (alternative)
tzarism (alternative)

A supporter of monarchy ruled by a tsar.


Padishah

Padishahs (plural)
Badshah (alternative)
badshah (alternative)
padishah (alternative)
Padshaw (alternative)
padshaw (alternative)
Potshaw (alternative)
potshaw (alternative)
Padishar (alternative)
padishar (alternative)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish پادشاه (padişah), from Classical Persian پادِشاه (pādišāh) / پادْشاه (pādšāh).

(history) A ruler of a Muslim country or state.

padishah

(historical) a ruler of a Muslim country or state


absolute monarchy

absolute monarchy (countable and uncountable, plural absolute monarchies)

(uncountable) The rule of such a monarch, as a form of government.


Ancien Régime

Borrowed from French Ancien Régime, from ancien (“former”) + régime (“rule, order”). The word first appeared in English in print in 1794.

(historical) The aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, overthrown by the French Revolution of 1789.

ancien régime

aristocratic system in France before the French Revolution


Mandate of Heaven

Calque of Literary Chinese 天命 (tiānmìng).

calque

The philosophical construct that is the basis of the authority of the Son of Heaven.


kaiserdom

en-noun

kaiserdom (countable and uncountable, plural kaiserdoms)

The dignity, rank or office of a kaiser; the state of being a kaiser.


banzai

From Japanese 万歳(ばんざい) (banzai, “long live..., huzzah, hurrah”), from Middle Chinese 萬歲 (mjonᴴ sjwejᴴ), from Old Chinese 萬歲 (*mans s-qʷʰats, “10,000 years [of life]”, i.e. “immortality”), from 萬 /万 (wàn, “10,000”) 歲 /岁 (suì, “year (of age)”).
Compare Mandarin 萬歲／万岁 (wànsùi).

der

10,000 years 􂀿of life􂁀”, i.e. “immortality

zh-l

萬歲／万岁 (wànsùi)


infante

From Spanish infante and Portuguese infante, both from Latin īnfāntem (“child”). Doublet of infant. Cognate with infantry.

(historical) Any son of the king of Spain or Portugal, sometimes except the eldest or heir apparent.


infanta

Borrowed from Spanish infanta, Portuguese infanta, feminine of infante.

It was a dispatch intended specifically to communicate a sense of closure to the Spanish monarchs, to show that England possessed a dynasty fit for an infanta of Spain.

2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 40:

A daughter of a king in Spain and Portugal.


principessa

The sins against propriety in manners are as frequent and as glaring. I do not speak of the hoyden vivacity, harlot tenderness, and dancing-school affability, with which vulgar novel-writers always deck out their countesses and principessas, chevaliers, dukes, and marquisses; […]

1821, Letters to Richard Heber, Esq. Containing Critical Remarks on the Series of Novels Beginning with “Waverley,” and an Attempt to Ascertain Their Author., London: […] Rodwell and Martin, […], page 34:

The Principessas, and they are all Principessas here, have fourteen or fifteen children a-piece; […]

1843, John Heneage Jesse, George Selwyn and His Contemporaries; with Memoirs and Notes, volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], page 372:

Not only that, but there was a title of nobility, the first that Peony or Dr. Planish had ever tasted, the Principessa Ca’ D’Oro, a real princess though she just happened to have been born a Miss Togg of Arkansas. She wrote social columns. But, nobler than nobility, bluer of jaw than the principessa was blue of blood, was Colonel Charles B. Marduc, deity among advertising agents, owner of a dozen magazines, major on the Western Front in World War I and now colonel in the National Guard; […] But Dr. Planish did see that only in New York could you adequately keep a national philanthropic organization. Where else could you count on generals and principessas and stars and Marducs and bishops of every brand from Roman Catholic through Methodist to Pentecostal Abyssinian?

1943, Sinclair Lewis, Gideon Planish, New York, N.Y.: Random House, pages 231–232:

Professor Hartt recalled that, at one of what Berenson liked to call his Sunday afternoon “tea fights,” he was surrounded by contessas, baronessas, and principessas in true Don Giovanni style.

1979, Meryle Secrest, Being Bernard Berenson: A Biography, New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISBN, page 391:

Inside, Italian principessas rubbed shoulders with Seventh Avenue princes.

1997, Sandra Marton, Until You, Pinnacle Books, →ISBN, page 88:

Italian principessas were always there with publishers, playboys, and princes some of the habitués of the club mingling with starlets and socialites.

2009, Deedee Panesar, In Gold We Trust: The True Story of the Papalia Twins and Their Battle for Truth and Justice, Trafford Publishing, published 2010, →ISBN, page 68:

I shoved Bee up another step, hoping she would bolt for the door to the attic, and I took each step down with a drawn-out measure worthy, I am sure, of the great principessas of the theater.

2010, Kate Elliott [pseudonym; Alis A. Rasmussen], Cold Magic (Spiritwalker; 1), Hachette, →ISBN:

Before her marriage to the head of Fiat, she had been “just one of those-down-at-the-Ferragamo-heels Italian principessas playing at working in New York—in her case, in Erwin Blumenfeld’s studio.[…]”

2017, Norma Stevens, Steven M. L. Aronson, Avedon: Something Personal, New York, N.Y.: Spiegel & Grau, →ISBN, page 46:

Only imagine, the sisters had enthused to one another on the phone, they could sail the wine-dark seas like Italian principessas.

2018, Mary Jane Myers, Curious Affairs, Philadelphia, Pa.: Paul Dry Books, →ISBN, page 69:


royal family

The family of the ruling sovereign of a country or state.


monarchism

en-noun

monarchism (countable and uncountable, plural monarchisms)


constitutional monarchy

constitutional monarchy (countable and uncountable, plural constitutional monarchies)

A monarchy that is limited by laws and a constitution.

monarki konstitusional

monarchy limited by laws and a constitution

立憲君主政体

りっけんくんしゅせいたい


heir apparent

heir apparent (plural heirs apparent or heir apparents)

heirs apparent (plural)
heir apparents (plural)

From Middle English heier apparaunt, a calque translation of Middle French héritier apparent, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun.

[…] for Mary, though perfectly resolved against ever attaching herself to a younger brother again, was long in finding among the dashing representatives, or idle heir apparents, who were at the command of her beauty, and her 20,000l. any one who could satisfy the better taste she had acquired at Mansfield, whose character and manners could authorise a hope of the domestic happiness she had there learnt to estimate, or put Edmund Bertram sufficiently out of her head.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 345:

LeBron James, heir apparent to MJ’s throne, seems on paper like a dream trade—he stole plenty of laughs in Trainwreck a few summers ago.

2021 July 14, A. A. Dowd, “Space Jam: A New Legacy is one big, witless commercial for Warner Bros. properties”, in The A.V. Club:

(usually monarchy) Someone who will definitely inherit if surviving the one whose property is to be inherited.


heir presumptive

heir presumptive (plural heirs presumptive)

A calque of French héritier présomptif, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun.

Someone who will become an heir (usually to a monarchy) only if no-one with a higher-ranking claim is born.

假定繼承人 /假定继承人

one who inherits if no one with a higher-ranking claim is born


Ashvamedha

Borrowed from Sanskrit अश्वमेध (áśva-medhá, “horse-sacrifice”), an oxytonic tatpuruṣa compound of अश्व (áśva, “horse”) and मेध (médha, “animal sacrifice”).

bor

A peculiar verse in the Yajurvedic Ashvamedha tells us that in the sacrifices that were performed by the devas, Agni was the horse, and he conquered the earth (23/17). The idea of using the Ashvamedha horse for extending the rule to the neighbouring territories arose from this.

1996, Jayant Gadkari, Society and Religion: From Rugveda to Puranas, page 32:

(Hinduism) One of the most important Vedic sacrificial rituals related to kings, and name of the Rigvedic hymns 1.162-163 which deal with horse sacrifice.


sarki

(Nigeria) The emir of a Hausa-Fulani emirate.


limited monarchy

en-noun

limited monarchy (countable and uncountable, plural limited monarchies)

A government in which a monarch agrees to share power with a parliament and abide by a constitution; also known as a constitutional monarchy.


royalism

royalism (countable and uncountable, plural royalisms)

Impassioned allegiance to or advocacy of the establishment, maintenance, and/or interests of a particular king, royal house, or kingly dynasty; sometimes extended to the same of a non-royal (i.e., grand ducal, imperial, or other) family or sovereign; often contrasted with monarchism.


grand duchy

The territory owned, ruled, or reigned over by a grand duke or grand duchess; contrast grand dukedom.

غْرَانْدُوقِيَّة

a dominion or region ruled by a grand duke or grand duchess


queen mother

A widowed queen consort (a queen dowager) whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch.

الْمَلِكَة الْأُمّ

widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch


queen consort

queen consort (plural queens consort or queen consorts or queens consorts)

queens consort (plural)
queen consorts (plural)
queens consorts (plural)
queen-consort (alternative)

Coordinate term: king consort

The Queens consorts of England are by law the perpetual patroneſſes; this hoſpital being conſidered as part of their dower.[…]Nothing now remains but to give a ſhort account of the Queens Consorts of England, who have been Patroneſſes of the two Hoſpitals of St. Katharine, from their foundation to the preſent time.

1782, “The present State of this Hospital, concluding with a List of the Royal Patronesses from its Foundation to the present Time”, in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica. № V. […], London: […] J[ohn] Nichols, pages 42–43:

This implies they say, that the “queens” are spoken of not as queens regnant, but as queens consorts.[…]We allow that queens are here spoken of as queens consorts, and not as queens regnant. But though a queen consort possesses no official power, her husband does. And it is therefore an obvious fallacy to argue, that because queens consorts, who have no official power, can nurse the Church only in a private capacity, that therefore the kings, their husbands, who are possessed of official power, should nurse the Church only in a private capacity.

1839, William White, “Lecture II”, in Lectures on the Lawfulness and Advantages of National Establishments of Religion, Haddington: […] Neill and Sons; […], pages 44–45:

The other cases which bear upon, or have any analogy to, the present, are those of Queens Consorts of this kingdom;[…]As far, then, as we can judge by precedent of these matters (and I shall endeavour presently to show that there is no other mode of judging of them), it would appear that 50,000l. a-year is the sum which has ordinarily been allotted to princes in the situation of Prince Albert and to the Queens Consorts of this country. With respect to the sums which have been granted either to the husband of the Queen, or to Queens Consorts, in all cases of their surviving the Sovereign, the sum allowed has always been greater than that which I now propose.

1840 January 24, “The Prince Albert’s Provision”, in John Henry Barrow, editor, Mirror of Parliament. […], volume I, London: […] Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], page 341, columns 1–2:

The founder of this college was Robert de Eglesfeld, chaplain and confessor to Philippa, queen consort of Edward III., who in compliment to his royal mistress designated it by the name of Queen’s college, or the hall of the Queen’s scholars. Philippa not only encouraged him in his work, but became its patroness after the founder’s death, which happened in 1349; an example which has since been followed most liberally by the queens consorts of many of our kings, in taking this college into their special favour.

1847, “Queen’s College”, in A Hand-book for Visitors to Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker, pages 134–135:

In its new state Queen Victoria wore the stone in a brooch, in a tiara, and, from 1858, in a circlet set for her by Garrard, the crown jewellers. It has never been worn by a male sovereign, for on her death Victoria bequeathed it to her daughter-in-law, Alexandra, and after her to successive queens consorts.

2000, Katherine Prior, John Adamson, Maharajas’ Jewels, Assouline, →ISBN, page 74:

He will lead the country in mourning as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms. Camilla, his wife, becomes Queen Consort.

2022 September 8, “Queen Elizabeth II has died”, in BBC News:


nawab

From Hindi नवाब (navāb)/Urdu نواب (navāb), from Persian نوّاب (navvâb), ultimately from Arabic نُوَّاب (nuwwāb), plural of نَائِب (nāʔib, “naib”).

Colonel Altamont, the Nawaub of Lucknow’s prime favourite, an extraordinary man, who had, it was said, embraced Mahometanism, and undergone a thousand wild and perilous adventures was at present in this country, trying to negotiate with the Begum Clavering, the sale of the Nawaub’s celebrated nose-ring diamond, ‘the light of the Dewan.’

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 38, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

The nawabs of Bhopal, Ranput, Murshidabad, and Dhaka, along with the nizam of Hyderabad, all affirmed that the sultan has misled Muslims with his “erroneous” call to jihad and insisted that Indian Muslims had a duty to support Great Britain.

2015, Eugene Rogan, The Fall of the Ottomans, Penguin, published 2016, page 71:

(historical) A Muslim official in South Asia acting as a provincial deputy ruler under the Mughal empire; a local governor.


regnal year

(law) A year in the reign of a monarch, beginning on the day of accession, the set of which are numbered ordinally. Formerly laws in the United Kingdom were identified in part by the regnal year of the monarch, and this practice is still followed in some Commonwealth countries.


regnal name

A name, which need not be the person's birth name, used by a monarch or pope during their reign.


monocracy

monocracy (countable and uncountable, plural monocracies)

The question here arises: Shall it be transferred to one or to many; or shall the state, in regard to the persons who constitute its government, be a monocracy or an aristocracy?

1869, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, The Science of Rights, page 279:

A monocracy, as traditionalists called it, also seemed dangerous.

1991, William W. Freehling, The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854, volume 1:

In monocracies, the extent of closure is still greater.

2015, M. Steven Fish, Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics:


queen regnant

queens regnant (plural)
queen regnante (alternative)

A female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning monarch.


overking

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌkɪŋ/

From Middle English oferrking, over-king; equivalent to over- + king.

the King of Connaught, who was recognized as overking of the island by the rest of the tribe[…]

1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People:

"They have given me five-and-twenty overkings," protested John, and he at once turned to seek a way of evasion.

1907, Katharine Coman, Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, A History of England, for High Schools and Academies, The Macmillan Company, page 122:

The latter asked the aid of Cond the overking, who took up their cause, and a fierce war arose, in which Cond was beaten and compelled to divide Ireland with his rival.

1908, Henry Smith Williams, Scotland, Ireland, England since 1792, Hooper & Jackson, →ISBN, page 335:

Celtic law, however, explicitly specified that any member of a tribe, including overkings/overqueens of provinces and Druid high priests/priestesses, could be stripped of their legal rights if they failed to execute the legal obligations of their stations.

1996, Jack George Thompson, Women in Celtic Law and Culture, Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, page 39:

The difference between a dux bellorum and an overking is not clear, and it may be that the two concepts were elided into a single role.

2000, Don Nardo, Rodney Castleden, King Arthur: The Truth Behind the Legend, Routledge, →ISBN, page 119:

A king who has sovereignty over inferior kings or ruling princes; a ruler of an overkingdom; a king that is truly superior or supreme.


inthronization

inthronization (countable and uncountable, plural inthronizations)

inthronizations (plural)
enthronisation (alternative)
enthronization (alternative)
inthronisation (alternative)

/inˌθɹəʊnaɪˈzeɪʃən/

From inthronize + -ation; compare Latin inthronizātiō, whence French intronisation, Galician entronización, Portuguese entronização, Spanish entronización.

The great feast at the inthronization of the reverend father in God, George Neavill Arch-Bishop of Yorke, Chancellour of England […]

1645, The great feast at the inthronization of the reverend father in God, George Neavill Arch-Bishop of Yorke, Chancellour of England, in the sixt yeere of Edward the fourth. Wherein is manifested the great pride and vaine glory of that prelate. The copy of this feast was found inrolled in the Tower of London, and was taken out by Mr. Noy His Majesties late Atorney Generall. Printed according to order, London: Printed for Edward Husbands, →OCLC, title page:

It is from this Policy of hers [the Roman Catholic Church], that all Names of Dignity and Diſtinction among Chriſtians, as Earl, Baron, Duke, Marquis, &c. had originally their Riſe as Hereditary Titles. To the ſame have been owing all the various Ceremonies of Inſtitutions and Inſtalments; and Coronations, as well as Inthronizations.

1732, [Bernard Mandeville], “The Second Dialogue Between Horatio and Cleomenes”, in An Enquiry into the Origin of Honour, and the Usefulness of Christianity in War, London: Printed for John Brotherton, at the Bible in Cornhill, →OCLC, page 93:

The year following the ſaid [William] Warham was tranſlated to Canterbury, at whoſe inthronization ſomething occurred relating to this Univerſity; which though a little out of the road, yet I ſhall adventure to remember it, and it is this. At the firſt courſe on Sunday […] dinner 9 Mar. being the day of the ſaid inthronization, was 'A Warner conveyed upon a rounde boorde, of viii panes, with viii Towres, imbattled and made with flowres, ſtandying on every towre a Bedil […] in his habit, with his ſtaffe[…]'

1792, Anthony à Wood, The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford: In Two Books, volume I, Oxford: John Gutch, →OCLC, page 661:

Inthronization, in ancient times, immediately succeeded the rite of consecration; the new bishop being honourably placed in his episcopal chair by the prelates assembled for his consecration. […] It was customary for bishops to preach sermons at their inthronization, and [Joseph] Bingham has cited several instances of this practice in the fourth and fifth centuries. Symeon of Thessalonica states, that the rite of inthronization was formerly celebrated with great solemnity by all the comprovincial bishops.

1845, William Palmer, Origines Liturgicae, or, Antiquities of the English Ritual: And a Dissertation on Primitive Liturgies, 4th edition, volume II, London: Francis & John Rivington, →OCLC, page 310:

The Inthronization. The King ascended the Theatre, accompanied by the two Bishops his Supporters, the Great Officers of State, the Lords carrying the Swords, and the Lords who had borne Their Majesties' Regalia, and was Inthroned by the Archbishops, Bishops, and the other Peers, who then stood about the steps of the Throne.

1937 November 10, “Ceremonial of the Coronation of Their Majesties [King George VI and his wife Elizabeth, Westminster Abbey, London, 12 May 1937]”, in The London Gazette (Supplement), number 34453, page 7031 at 7056:

In fact, the possibility is not to be excluded that the inthronization of Jesus as Son of God was declared in the context of a resurrection appearance to Peter.

2000, Georg Strecker, Theology of the New Testament, Berlin & New York, N.Y., Louisville, Ky.: Walter de Gruyter; Westminster John Knox Press, →ISBN, page 358:


toparch

toparchs (plural)
Toparch (alternative)
topark (alternative)

From the Ancient Greek τοπάρχης (topárkhēs, “ruler of a small district”), from τόπος (tópos, “place”) + -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruler”). Compare the Latin toparcha and French toparque.

suffix

[B]y those many kings mentioned in the Old Testament, "thirty and one" in the little land of Canaan, (Joshua xii. 24,) is meant only toparchs, not great kings, but lords of a little dition and dominion; […]

1640, T[homas] F[uller], “A Comment on 1 Cor. XI. 18, &c.”, in Ioseph’s Partie-colored Coat: Containing, a Comment on Part of the 11. Chapter of the 1. Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians: […], London: […] Iohn Dawson, for Iohn Williams, […], →OCLC; republished as William Nichols, editor, Joseph’s Party-coloured Coat: […], London: William Tegg, 1867, →OCLC, page 16:

Toparks, Kings of Cities or narrow territories, such as were the Kings of Sodome and Gomorrah, the Kings of Jericho and Ai.

1646, Thomas Browne, chapter VIII, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 7th book, page 353:

About the same time […] flourished Cadocus, abbot of Llancarvan in Glamorganshire, son of the prince and toparch of that country.

1655, Thomas Fuller, “6ª Century”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), pages 116–117:

The toparchs of India and Ethiopia.

1737, Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston, Antiquities of the Jews, book XI, chapter iii, § 2:

The top-arch, Turlogh O’Connor, was the friend of O’Rourke.

1852, Charlotte Mary Yonge, chapter XXII, in Cameos from English History, volume I, published 1877, page 162:

The prince or ruler of a small district, city, or petty state; a petty "king".

toparcha

ruler of a small district or petty state


sultaness

From Middle English soudanesse. By surface analysis, sultan + -ess.


Son of Heaven

Calque of Literary Chinese 天子 (tiānzǐ), from the Emperor having the Mandate of Heaven.


Prince of Wales

en-noun

Prince of Wales (plural Princes of Wales)

Reassured and pleased with the railway, the Queen returned from Paddington to Slough on June 23, bringing with her the infant Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII.

1953 June, “Royal Railway Journeys”, in Railway Magazine, page 364:

Furthermore, two of the Princesses of Wales — Lady Anne Neville and Katharine of Aragon — became Queen through later marriages and were not consorts of Princes of Wales at the time of their coronations.

1983, Mary Beacock Fryer, Arthur Bousfield, Garry Toffoli, “Introduction”, in Lives of the Princesses of Wales, Toronto, Ont.: Dundurn Press, →ISBN, page 6, column 1:

A royal title given to the male heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.


high king

From Middle English *heah-kyng, from Old English hēahcyning (“high-king; God”), equivalent to high + king.

inh

high-king (alternative)
highking (alternative)

(often capitalised) The king of kings: God; often, Jesus Christ.


prince consort

A calque translation of French prince consort.

Coordinate term: princess consort

Near-synonym: king consort (if recognized as a king)

Both the G.W.R. and the L.S.W.R. had to pay dearly for the privilege of entering the Royal Borough, for the Prince Consort drove a hard bargain with each.

1949 September and October, “Notes and News: The Windsor Centenary”, in Railway Magazine, page 340:

The husband of a queen regnant who is not a king in his own right, or is accorded this title in a monarchy in which only male monarchs may bear the title "king."


royal assent

The Transport Act, 1962, received Royal Assent on August 1.

1962 October, “Talking of Trains: The Transport Act, 1962”, in Modern Railways, page 219:

(government) The method by which a constitutional monarch (or a viceroy in a colony or dominion) formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law.

御准

method by which a constitutional monarch approves a law


wand of peace

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-wand of peace.wav

From wand (“handheld narrow rod, used for instructing or pointing, or as a traditional emblem of authority”) + of + peace.

compound

A Respit maid to DONALD MAKLAUCHRANE, for art and part of the slauchter of Robert Fargussoun of Brakanside and Alexander Fargussoun, and for all uther actiouns, etc.,— […] To endure for xix zeris, etc.: With power to the schireffis of Edinburgh and Dumfreis to relesch him fra the horne and deliver him the wand of pece, etc.

1511 December 8 (date written; Gregorian calendar), M[atthew] Livingstone, editor, Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland […], volume I (A.D. 1488–1529), Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, published 1908, →OCLC, paragraph 2338, page 355, column 2:

Meſſengers have as the Badge of their Office, a Blaſon bearing the Kings Armes, and a VVand of Peace if they bear not the Blaſon, […] [T]he VVand of Peace is that vvhereby they touch a Rebel, and declares him to be their Priſoner, and vvhen they are deforced, they uſe to break the VVand of Peace, […]

1678, George Mackenzie, “Title XXVI. Deforcement.”, in The Laws and Customes of Scotland, in Matters Criminal. […], Edinburgh: […] Thomas Brown, one of His Majestie’s printers, →OCLC, paragraph III, page 259:

A Meſſenger, vvhen deforced, uſes to break his VVand of Peace, as a Symbol of the Deforcement, and proteſt for Remedy of Lavv. This Crime is Purſued only before the Court of Juſticiary.

1730, William Forbes, “Of Crimes Concerning the Execution of Law and Justice. Tit[le] II. Of Deforcement.”, in The Institutes of the Law of Scotland. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] John Mosman and Company, His Majesty’s printers, and sold by W. Brown and Mr. T. Herriot, […], and by Mr. A. Carmichael […], →OCLC, paragraph 3, page 207:

Meſſengers have ſometimes occaſion to take Inſtruments in the Hands of a Notary upon Deforcement in the Execution of their Office, and to proteſt, That the Reſiſters and Deforcers may be liable in the Pains of Lavv; […] vvhen this Opportunity cannot ſo vvell be had, his breaking his VVand of Peace in preſence of his Concurrences, and his ovvn Execution thereon, is ſufficient.

1740, “Tit[le] IX. Of the Lesser, or Moveable Instruments. Sect[ion] III. Of Instruments of Protestation and Others Relating to Matters of Commerce and Business.”, in Ars Notariatus: Or, The Art and Office of a Notary-publick, as the Same is Practised in Scotland. […], Edinburgh: […] Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran; sold by A. Brymer, […], →OCLC, part II (Of Notarial Instruments of All Kinds), paragraph IX, page 261:

Deforcement being a crime which has a diſtinct punishment affixed to it, the meſſenger, it has been argued, when reſiſted, ſhould break his wand of peace, and proteſt for remeid of law, and is not juſtifiable in killing, unleſs he be ſeriously attacked with offenſive weapons.

1806, Gilbert Hutcheson, “Of Constables”, in Treatise on the Offices of Justice of Peace; Constable; Commissioner of Supply; and Commissioner under Comprehending Acts, in Scotland; […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] William Creech, →OCLC, page 315:

And here, where I brake the wand of peace ower him—here I stand again—to bid God bless and prosper the just heir of Ellangowan, and will sune be brought to his ain; […]

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 135:

The legal officer, confronted with him of the military, grasped with one doubtful hand the greasy bludgeon which was to enforce his authority, and with the other produced his short official baton, tipped with silver, and having a moveable ring upon it—"Captain M'Intyre,—Sir,—I have no quarrel with you,—but if you interrupt me in my duty, I will break the wand of peace and declare myself deforced."

1816, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Antiquary. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 274–275:

It is argued […] that messengers are a much higher grade of officials than officers of a sheriff, and therefore, though the table [of fees for sheriff-officers] was authoritative, it applies only to the privileged class. […] [N]otwithstanding their blazons, their wands of peace, and connection with the Lyon of Heraldry, the S.S. [Sheriff-Substitute] is inclined to think that the time and trouble expended in any given act should be the main element of charge in both classes of officials.

1871 October, Sheriff Barclay, “[Notes of Cases. The Scottish Law Magazine and Sheriff Court Reporter.] Sheriff S. D. Court of Perthshire.—Sheriff Barclay, LL.D. A v. B.”, in The Journal of Jurisprudence, volume XV, number CLXXVIII, Edinburgh: T[homas] & T[homas] Clark, […], →OCLC, page 555:

(Scotland, law, historical) A wand or staff with a silver tip which was given to an outlaw as a sign that they were restored to the king's or queen's peace; and also carried by a messenger of the monarch as a symbol of office, to be broken in protest in cases of deforcement (“resistance to the execution of the law”).

rauhan sauva

wand or staff given to an outlaw as a sign that they were restored to the king’s or queen’s peace; and also carried by a messenger of the monarch as a symbol of office


shahanshah

shahanshahs (plural)
Shahanshah (alternative)
Shāhanshāh (alternative)
Shahan Shah (alternative)
Shahinshah (alternative)
Shah-in-Shah (alternative)
Shahenshah (alternative)
Shah en Shah (alternative)

Borrowed from Classical Persian شَاهَنْشَاه (šāhanšāh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠𐭭 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾn mlkʾ /šāhān šāh/, “king of kings”), which see for more.

der

(historical) King of kings; a title given to the rulers of ancient Persia and sometimes of Armenia.

𒈗𒊭𒈗𒈨𒌍

title of the rulers of ancient Persia: “king of kings” — see also king of kings


queen dowager

en-noun

queen dowager (plural queen dowagers or queens dowager or queens dowagers)

queen dowagers (plural)
queens dowager (plural)
queens dowagers (plural)

The new Royal Saloon rode roughly at first. It was originally a four-wheel carriage, and as such it was used by Adelaide, the Queen Dowager, but before the Queen [Queen Victoria] travelled in it the body was mounted on an eight-wheel frame.

1953 June, “Royal Railway Journeys”, in Railway Magazine, page 363:


royal touch

The touching of a diseased person by the hand of a king, with the supposed purpose of restoring health. It was extensively practiced in England and France, particularly for scrofula.


chakravartin

chakravartins (plural)
cakravartin (alternative)

Borrowed from Sanskrit चक्रवर्तिन् (cakravartin).

(India, religion) An ideal universal ruler, who rules ethically and benevolently over the entire world.


subking

After this, Kapole was told to take the message to two senior subkings, namely Kapemba and Chiti.

2015, Yizenge Chondoka, A History of the Tumbuka from 1400 to 1900:

A monarch of a polity that is in turn part of another kingdom.


empress dowager

empress dowager (plural empress dowagers or empresses dowager or empresses dowagers)

empress dowagers (plural)
empresses dowager (plural)
empresses dowagers (plural)

The mother or widow of an emperor, especially in a Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese empire.


hetmanate

From hetman + -ate (forms denoting rank or office, the concrete charge of it).

af

Government by a hetman, or the territory thereby governed.


navaratna

en-noun

navaratna (countable and uncountable, plural navaratnas)

Borrowed from Sanskrit नवरत्न (navaratna) meaning "nine gems".

Other items in the collection include a navaratna (nine gem) pendant or a celestial talisman from Rajasthan. The nine gems when arranged in a certain order are meant to represent the nine planets. Navaratna is popular throughout India, in the form of pendants, rings and other suites.

1998, Tom Flynn, Colonisation and the Object-Empire, Material culture and the Museum:

(India) ruby, emerald, pearl, yellow sapphire, coral, cat's eye, hessonite, blue sapphire and diamond


sarvabhauma

From Sanskrit सार्वभौम (sārvabhauma), from सर्वभूमि (sarvabhūmi, literally “the whole world”).


Groom of the Stool

en-proper noun

Groom of the Stool (plural Grooms of the Stool)

Grooms of the Stool (plural)
groom of the stool (alternative)

/ˈɡɹuːm əv ðə ˈstuːl/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Groom of the Stool.wav

From groom (“officer of the English royal household”) + of + the + (close-)stool (“a chamber pot enclosed in a stool or box”).

The leſſer Corporations were [...] his Majeſties gratuities to the Lord of, &c. Marqueſs, &c. Q[ueen] Mother, Lady Nurſe, Groom of the ſtool, that is, the Cloſe ſtool, whether King or Queen (high and advantageous honours) and this diſcended to outlandiſh, as in Land commodities; yea, to pins and brooms; and it was ſaid, to Rags for paper, and Marrow-bones for Kitchin-ſtuff, or greaſe; [...]

1651, Charl[e]s George Cock, English-Law; or, a Summary Survey of the Household of God on Earth; […], London: Printed by Robert White for T. G. and Francis Tyton, […], →OCLC, page 52:

The King hath thirteen Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, who conſiſt uſually of the Prime Nobility of England, whereof the firſt is call'd Groom of the Stool [...] The meaning is a Groom or Servant of the Robe or Veſtment. He hath the Office and Honour to put on his Majeſties Shirt every morning, and to order the things of the Bed-Chamber[.]

1675, Paul Festeau, “Dialogues”, in Nouvelle Grammaire Angloise, Enrichie de Dialogues Curieux Touchant l’Estat & la Cour d’Angleterre. […] [New English Grammar, Enriched with Curious Dialogues Touching the State & the Court of England. […]], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, London: Chez George Wells, […], →OCLC, pages 193–194:

[T]he Statute enjoyns the Clergy-man to be reſident in and upon his Living, that is, his Parſonage or Vicarage-Houſe, if he have any, and not at any other Houſe in the Pariſh; [...] But the Chaplains of the Chancellor of the Dutchy, Augmentations, Firſt-fruits, Maſter of the Wards, Surveyor General, Treaſurer of the Chamber and Augmentations, and Groom of the Stool, are to be Reſident twice in a year at leaſt, Eight days at each time: [...]

1695, Simon Degge, chapter VII, in The Parson’s Counsellor, with the Law of Tythes or Tything: In Two Books. […], 5th corrected and enlarged edition, London: Printed by the assigns of Richard and Edward Atkyns, Esquires, for Richard Sare […], and Jos[eph] Hindmarsh […], →OCLC, pages 80–81:

MONTMORENCY (Anne de) firſt baron, peer, mareſchal, high-ſteward, conſtable of France; knight of St. Michael, and of the garter, groom of the ſtool, and governor of Languedoc, &c. was ſecond ſon to William lord of Montmorency.

1743, “MONTMORENCY (Anne de)”, in Historical, Genealogical, and Classical Dictionary. […] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, column 2:

The Queen then rises and goes to the faldstool, at which she is to be anointed and crowned, placed between King Edward's chair and the steps of the altar, where the Groom of the Stool to her Majesty (with the two Ladies of her Bedchamber) take off her rich circlet or coronet; when the Queen kneels down, and the Archbishop pours the holy oil on the crown of her head, in the form of a cross, using these words, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, let the anointing of this oil increase thine honour," &c.

1831 September 1, “A Particular and Historical Account of the Ceremonies usually Observed at the Coronation of the Kings and Queens of Great Britain”, in The World of Fashion, and Continental Feuilletons. […], volume VIII, number 89, London: Printed by Mr. Bell, […], →OCLC, page 211, column 1:

It is the king's pleasure that Mr Norris shall be in the room of Sir William Compton, not only giving his attendance as groom of the stool but also in his bedchamber and other privy places as shall stand with his pleasure. And the king's express command is that none other of the said six gentlemen [of the privy chamber] presume to enter or follow his Grace into the said bedchamber, or any other secret place, unless he shall be called and admitted thereunto by his said grace.

1995, Eric Ives, “Henry VIII: The Political Perspective”, in Diarmaid MacCulloch, editor, The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety (Problems in Focus), Basingstoke, Hampshire, London: Macmillan Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 20:

As David Starkey has delineated in great detail, one of Henry [VIII]'s major administrative achievements was the centralization of court administration in a collection of younger gentry in bodily service to the King. Grooms of the Chamber, Grooms of the Stool, Esquires of the Body – these were the titles granted men who ministered to Henry's private functions, and as Starkey argues, it is this new sense of intimacy that recalibrates the English body politic into a politics of the King's body.

1997, Seth Lerer, “Pretexts: Chaucer’s Pandarus and the Origins of Courtly Discourse”, in Courtly Letters in the Age of Henry VIII: Literary Culture and the Arts of Deceit, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 22:

The title of Groom of the Stool derived from that gentleman's privilege of attending his sovereign whenever he used the close stool; his duties were to provide him with a flannel "to wipe his nether end" and to summon a Yeoman of the Chamber to empty and clean the pot. Sir Thomas Heneage, Groom of the Stool from 1536 to 1546, was witness to the King's chronic constipation and his efforts to relieve it, [...]

2001, Alison Weir, Henry VIII: The King and His Court, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, 2008, →ISBN, page 81:

As cloacal factotum, the Groom of the Stool presides over the offices of royal excretion; he maintains the royal close-stool and examines its products for signs of health or distemperature; he serves, in this sense, both as a royal confidant and an intermediary between the royal self in its private and public capacities. The Groom's office, in short, involves an "exquisite combination of intimacy, degradation, and privilege" (Paster 1993: 32); [...]

2003, Bruce Boehrer, “The Privy and Its Double: Scatology and Satire in Shakespeare’s Theatre”, in Richard Dutton, Jean E. Howard, editors, A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, volume IV (The Poems, Problem Comedies, Late Plays), Malden, Mass., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, page 78:

The exaltation of a monarch was such that few were fit to dine with one. Meanwhile, as many as eight "grooms of the stool" waited on kings when at privy. A king sat alone at the table and in company at the "throne."

2014, Leonard Sweet, “Setting the Table at Home”, in From Tablet to Table: Where Community is Found and Identity is Formed, Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, →ISBN, part II (Life’s Three Tables), page 81:

(British, monarchy, historical) Originally an official responsible for helping the English monarch use the toilet; later a senior official who was allowed access to the monarch's privy chamber and served as a personal secretary.


era name

Cities were not infrequently named after the era name in which they were founded (e.g., Shaoxing 紹興 in Zhejiang, after the Shaoxing era, 1131-62).

2000, Endymion Wilkinson, “Geography”, in Chinese History: A New Manual, Rev. & enl. edition, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 135:

The posthumous names of early Chinese rulers were often variations of a few words like "the martial one" (武), "the literary one" (文), "the filial one" (孝), but by the Tang they had become so long that people began using rulers' temple names or era names instead.

The regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Sinospheric rulers.


king of kings

Attested in Middle English as king of kinges. An ancient formula which seems to have originated in a Semitic language of the Ancient Near East; see Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠𐭭 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāhān-šāh, “king of kings”) for more.

noncog

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 17:14:

The title of an individual king who has other kings as subjects; in particular:


Princess of Wales

en-noun

Princess of Wales (plural Princesses of Wales)

Furthermore, two of the Princesses of Wales — Lady Anne Neville and Katharine of Aragon — became Queen through later marriages and were not consorts of Princes of Wales at the time of their coronations.

1983, Mary Beacock Fryer, Arthur Bousfield, Garry Toffoli, “Introduction”, in Lives of the Princesses of Wales, Toronto, Ont.: Dundurn Press, →ISBN, page 6, column 1:

A royal title given to the wife of the Prince of Wales.


archking

The archking which we have to fight is ignorance, and until knowledge and conviction areonce gained, the work of all of us will meet with strenuous opposition.

1900, Ohio Sanitary Bulletin, Volume 4, Office of the State Board of Health, page 74:

This Celtic Heptarchy was under the government of seven subordinate and petty chiefs, who were subject in turn to the jurisdiction of an archking called the Righ Riada or Reta.

1907, John O'Hanlon, Edward O'Leary, History of the Queen's County, Sealy, Bryers & Walker, page 75:

There I bribed the ostler to shut his gaping mouth and fetch my favorite roan mare, Merillwyn, not a native pony, but a true Roman draft horse, big enough for war and trained by Uncle Leary 's own captain of horses, before the archking gave her to me.

1994, Dafydd Ab Hugh, Arthur War Lord, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 114:


God Emperor

the God Emperor (canonical)
God-Emperor (alternative)

God + Emperor. Its use in reference to the Emperor of Japan is a calque of Japanese 天皇 (tennō, literally “heavenly sovereign/emperor”), referring to the emperor's descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu.
In reference to Donald Trump, from Trump-supporting Internet users humorously depicting him as the God-Emperor of Mankind, a character from the British science fiction tabletop game Warhammer 40,000.

cal

The meme was from Trump's cameo at WrestleMania 23 a decade prior, and in it he tackled WWE owner Vince McMahon before pummeling him on ... Several of his fellow users were congratulating him for getting “the God Emperor's” attention.

2017, Jared Yates Sexton, The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage, Catapult, →ISBN:

Just days after his election, Trump reaffirmed his campaign commitments to shut down Muslim immigration by signing an ... and with the election over and the man the AltRight called “the god emperor” on his way to the White House, ...

2017, George Hawley, Making Sense of the Alt-Right, Columbia University Press, →ISBN:

To the 4chan boys Trump was a hero, the social failure in chief, a clown prince. They called him the God Emperor, a swaggering fat Daddy, who, as one commentator put it, would put a car in every white man's drive and an Aryan woman in ...

2018, Javaad Alipoor, The Believers are But Brothers, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

“Trump is willing to say what most Americans think: It's time to deport these people,” Anglin declared, ... and avid campaign volunteers, referring to Trump with extravagant nicknames such as “Our Great God Emperor,” “the Nimble ...

2018, Arnold Dashefsky, Ira M. Sheskin, American Jewish Year Book 2017: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities, Springer, →ISBN, page 136:

Pepe had already been frequently portrayed as a Trump supporter on social media sites. ... a quick browse through the rabid Trump sub-Reddit the_donald will notice many of its members exalting the politician with the title “God Emperor."

2019, Grant Kien, Communicating with Memes: Consequences in Post-truth Civilization, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 190:

... Donald J. Trump'.46 This 380,000-strong group refers to Donald Trump as 'daddy' and 'the God Emperor',and gains its identity by standing against liberalism, feminism, intellectualism, and much more besides ...

2019, Fay Bound Alberti, A Biography of Loneliness: The History of an Emotion, Oxford University Press, USA, →ISBN, page 130:

Trump won. They'd made these Photoshopped pictures of Trump flying around on his victory horse, through the gates of heaven, with a crown on his head and his golden sword. They call him the God Emperor.” “That sounds awful.” “I know.

2019, Blake Nelson, The Red Pill: A Novel, Bombardier Books, →ISBN:

Our Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor.”1 Ten days after Trump's election, the National Policy Institute, the generically named but emphatically white-nationalist think tank led by professional racist Richard Spencer, ...

2020, Talia Lavin, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, Legacy Lit, →ISBN:

(Internet slang, US politics, humorous) Donald Trump, American politician, 45th president and 47th president of the United States.


parliamentary monarchy

en-noun

parliamentary monarchy (countable and uncountable, plural parliamentary monarchies)

A monarchy in which the ruler has no power and is purely a ceremonial figurehead, with all real power being vested in the legislature.


Yang di-Pertuan Agong

Unadapted borrowing from Malay Yang di-Pertuan Agong (literally “He Who is Made Lord”).

unadapted borrowing

(Malaysian politics) The paramount monarch of Malaysia.


YDPA

Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Yang di-Pertuan Agong#English

(Malaysia) Synonym of Yang di-Pertuan Agong (“the paramount monarch of Malaysia”).


absolute monarch

en-noun

absolute monarch (plural absolute monarchs)

He maintained that an absolute monarch could extend his credit more advantageously, and could obtain money at lower rates of interest, than a prince with limited authority.

1887, Andrew McFarland Davis, An Historical Study of Law’s System, page 17:


princex

Do you want to be a Princess, Prince, or Princex of Pride?

2019, Rayceen Pendarvis, "Empress of Pride", The Unleashed Voice Magazine, July/August 2019, page 19

The Disney Princex Drag Brunch is today from noon-3.p.m. […]

2020 February 21, “Calendar”, in Washington Blade, page 29:

Another pair of feet treads the stairs - a striking Goblin Princex. The glittering green gems that stud their tiara contrast with their raven hair and coffee complexion. They possess a sultry allure, and my breath catches in the back of my throat.
"I am the Princex Kyler," they say.

2022, J. Scott Coatsworth, Clarity, unnumbered page:

(neologism, rare) A genderless or non-binary prince; a prince whose gender is unknown.