Where does “kingship” come from?
Kingship comes from Old English -scipe (denoting state or condition) combined with Old English cyning (king), ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic -skapiz and skapjaną, traced to Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- (to beget or produce).
kingship (English): The dignity, rank or office of a king; the state...
Definitions
- The dignity, rank or office of a king; the state...
Ancestry of “kingship”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | King | radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter K |
| 2 | Middle English | king | king monarch |
| 3 | Old English | cyning | king |
| 4 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 7 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |