# king

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɪŋ/ · frequency rank #697

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

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **kit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kit)
- **kun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kun)
- **kip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kip)
- **kno** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kno)
- **kiss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kiss)
- **Kong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kong)
- **kirk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kirk)
- **kits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kits)
- **kite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kite)
- **kiwi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kiwi)
- **kink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kink)
- **Kira** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kira)
- **Kona** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kona)
- **Kita** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kita)
- **kino** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kino)
- **KPMG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kpmg)
- **kono** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kono)
- **Krug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-krug)
- **Kitt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kitt)
- **kings** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/king-vs-kings)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ikng`, `kign`, `kingg`, `kinng`, `kking`, `knig`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/king