king

/ˈkɪŋ/

//ˈkɪŋ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"king" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“king” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #697. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#697
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-king · king · English

king · rank #697 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #697
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH July

Nearest frequency peer: July (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “king”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “king” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

king vs kit
50% similar
king vs kun
50% similar
king vs kip
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for king
PropertyValue
Headwordking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɪŋ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#697
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “king”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).kinglands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “July” (#696), “learn” (#698), “interest” (#695). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “king” is #697. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around king (IPA /ˈkɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #697 among 1,236 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for king, with forms such as "ikng", "kign", and "kingg". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "kit", "kun", "kip", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez. Cognate with Scots king, keeng (“king”), North… The correct English form is king, spelled K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
  2. 2
    The monarch with the most power and authority in a monarchy, regardless of sex.
  3. 3
    A male leader of a traditional Aboriginal group, often used as a title by colonists.
  4. 4
    A powerful or majorly influential person; someone who holds the preeminent position.
  5. 5
    Something that has a preeminent position.
  6. 6
    A component of certain games.
  7. 7
    A component of certain games.
  8. 8
    A component of certain games.
  9. 9
    A component of certain games.
  10. 10
    A king skin.
  11. 11
    A male dragonfly; a drake.
  12. 12
    A king-sized bed.
  13. 13
    A vertex in a directed graph which can reach every other vertex via a path with a length of at most 2.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how king appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547.
  2. Charles the third became the new king of England from 2022.

Etymology

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez. Cognate with Scots king, keeng (“king”), North Frisian kining, köning (“king”), Saterland Frisian Kening (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Norwegian konge (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Veps kunigaz and Võro kuning. 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 kingen, kyngen (“to perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun.

Synonyms

Rexroy

This word in other languages

rey(Español)roi(Français)König(Deutsch)rei(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ikng
  • kign
  • kingg
  • kinng
  • kking
  • knig

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of king - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ikng2kign2kingg1kinng1kking1knig2
Edit distance from "king"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "king"?
"king" is spelled K-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɪŋ/.
What does "king" mean?
As a noun, "king" means: A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
What words are commonly confused with "king"?
"king" is commonly confused with "kit", "kun", "kip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "king"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "king" is /ˈkɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "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 king, keeng (“kin... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "king", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

July#696gone#693gold#692bank#705

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

alone6 variantswish6 variantssorry6 variantsmovie6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list