"king's man" meaning in English

See king's man in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: king's men [plural]
Etymology: From king + -'s and man. Etymology templates: {{m|en|king}} king, {{m|en|-'s}} -'s, {{m|en|man}} man Head templates: {{en-noun|king's men}} king's man (plural king's men)
  1. A Loyalist during the American Revolution, or any supporter of the king. Synonyms: King's man, kingsman, Kingsman Synonyms (supporter of the king): Loyalist, loyalist
    Sense id: en-king's_man-en-noun-MB54ELKQ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 59 41 Disambiguation of 'supporter of the king': 90 10
  2. A customs officer, or other officer appointed by the English Crown.
    Sense id: en-king's_man-en-noun-oTl19TZE

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for king's man meaning in English (3.7kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "man"
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  "etymology_text": "From king + -'s and man.",
  "forms": [
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  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
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          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, page 424",
          "text": "The owner of the grist mill, Smith Bowen, was a patriot, but his father was thought to have Tory tendencies, and when they came to burn the mill he ran out waving his hands and crying, \"Spare the mill for I am a King's man.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1972, James Henry Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution",
          "text": "Moreover, his willingness to lodge British soldiers, and a free hospitality shown to British officers (among others who frequented his house was General Mackay, a relative, probably, of his wife) marked Mr. Murray as a King's man.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Frances H. Kennedy, The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook, Oxford University Press, page 37",
          "text": "The Virginia House of Burgesses condemned the acts even before they took effect, prompting Governor Dunmore, a loyal king's man, to order it dissolved.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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          "_dis1": "90 10",
          "sense": "supporter of the king",
          "word": "Loyalist"
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        {
          "_dis1": "90 10",
          "sense": "supporter of the king",
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        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "King's man"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "kingsman"
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          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "Kingsman"
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      "categories": [],
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        {
          "ref": "1990, Sarah Gibbings, “The Tie: Trends and Traditions”, in Barron's, page 84",
          "text": "[...] \"king's man\" was a customs officer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Donald R. Kelley, David Harris Sacks, The Historical Imagination in Early Modern Britain: History, Rhetoric, and Fiction, 1500-1800, Cambridge University Press, page 152",
          "text": "Either North or Cheney [...] must have secured Arden's appointment to the lucrative post of king's customs officer for the port of Faversham [...] From the first, Arden was, in the words of Lena Orlin, who has described these relations in compelling detail, \"a king's man in Faversham.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Dawn G. Robinson, Secret Bude, Amberley Publishing Limited",
          "text": "It is said that the King's man, John Silver (you couldn't make this up), caught Symonds red-handed one day and had his head cut off with a cutlass. [...] the coast was less closely monitored by the customs officers than the secluded coves of the south; anyway, the customs men were often in cahoots with the smugglers and wreckers. Despite this, there were few run-ins between smugglers and customs men[...]",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
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        "A customs officer, or other officer appointed by the English Crown."
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      "id": "en-king's_man-en-noun-oTl19TZE",
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  "word": "king's man"
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{
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  "head_templates": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, page 424",
          "text": "The owner of the grist mill, Smith Bowen, was a patriot, but his father was thought to have Tory tendencies, and when they came to burn the mill he ran out waving his hands and crying, \"Spare the mill for I am a King's man.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1972, James Henry Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution",
          "text": "Moreover, his willingness to lodge British soldiers, and a free hospitality shown to British officers (among others who frequented his house was General Mackay, a relative, probably, of his wife) marked Mr. Murray as a King's man.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "2014, Frances H. Kennedy, The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook, Oxford University Press, page 37",
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          "text": "[...] \"king's man\" was a customs officer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Donald R. Kelley, David Harris Sacks, The Historical Imagination in Early Modern Britain: History, Rhetoric, and Fiction, 1500-1800, Cambridge University Press, page 152",
          "text": "Either North or Cheney [...] must have secured Arden's appointment to the lucrative post of king's customs officer for the port of Faversham [...] From the first, Arden was, in the words of Lena Orlin, who has described these relations in compelling detail, \"a king's man in Faversham.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Dawn G. Robinson, Secret Bude, Amberley Publishing Limited",
          "text": "It is said that the King's man, John Silver (you couldn't make this up), caught Symonds red-handed one day and had his head cut off with a cutlass. [...] the coast was less closely monitored by the customs officers than the secluded coves of the south; anyway, the customs men were often in cahoots with the smugglers and wreckers. Despite this, there were few run-ins between smugglers and customs men[...]",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A customs officer, or other officer appointed by the English Crown."
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "supporter of the king",
      "word": "Loyalist"
    },
    {
      "sense": "supporter of the king",
      "word": "loyalist"
    },
    {
      "word": "King's man"
    },
    {
      "word": "kingsman"
    },
    {
      "word": "Kingsman"
    }
  ],
  "word": "king's man"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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