king of beasts

/ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/

//ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts// noun

"king-of-beasts" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“king of beasts” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The lion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-king-of-beasts · king of beasts · English

king of beasts · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "K" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for king of beasts
PropertyValue
Headwordking of beasts
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “king of beasts” in English

king of beastssits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

king of beasts is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The lion.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for king of beasts, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English king of bestes. The correct English form is king of beasts, spelled K-I-N-G- -O-F- -B-E-A-S-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The lion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. “Who shot the lions?” Fred asked. / “Yours truly,” answered Terry. “I shot them with my little gun. I wouldn’t tell a lie for a dozen lions.” Nearly every one in the command laughed heartily, and gathered around to see the big game. The scouts told how Terry had brought the two kings of beasts down, each at a single shot.

Etymology

From Middle English king of bestes.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "king of beasts"?
"king of beasts" is spelled K-I-N-G- -O-F- -B-E-A-S-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/.
What does "king of beasts" mean?
As a noun, "king of beasts" means: The lion.
How do you pronounce "king of beasts"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "king of beasts" is /ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/. 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 of beasts"?
From Middle English king of bestes. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list