König

Meaning

Noun

king (monarch, chess, card games)

Name

a common surname transferred from the nickname

Concepts

king

ruler

King

prince

monarch

tsar

daimyo

sovereign

Inca

governor

emperor

lord

politician

Hyphenated as

Kö‧nig

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkøːnɪç/

Etymology

From Middle High German künec, from Old High German kuning (rarer kunig), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz.
The development Old High German -ning → later -nig is regular (see Pfennig). The modern vocalism -ö- is chiefly Central and Low German; compare Middle Low German köninc, from Old Saxon kuning.
Cognate with Old Dutch kuning (whence Dutch koning), Old English cyning (whence English king), Old Norse konungr (whence e.g. Danish konge). The word was borrowed into non-Germanic languages in Proto-Germanic times: Finnish and Estonian kuningas, Russian князь (knjazʹ).