overking

English

Etymology

From Middle English oferrking, over-king; equivalent to over- +‎ king.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌkɪŋ/

• Audio (UK):

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Noun

overking (plural overkings)

1. A king who has sovereignty over inferior kings or ruling princes; a ruler of an overkingdom; a king that is truly superior or supreme.
   • 1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People:

     the King of Connaught, who was recognized as overking of the island by the rest of the tribe […]

   • 1907, Katharine Coman, Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, A History of England, for High Schools and Academies‎, The Macmillan Company, page 122:

     "They have given me five-and-twenty overkings," protested John, and he at once turned to seek a way of evasion.

   • 1908, Henry Smith Williams, Scotland, Ireland, England since 1792‎, Hooper & Jackson, →ISBN, page 335:

     The latter asked the aid of Cond the overking, who took up their cause, and a fierce war arose, in which Cond was beaten and compelled to divide Ireland with his rival.

   • 1996, Jack George Thompson, Women in Celtic Law and Culture‎, Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, page 39:

     Celtic law, however, explicitly specified that any member of a tribe, including overkings/overqueens of provinces and Druid high priests/priestesses, could be stripped of their legal rights if they failed to execute the legal obligations of their stations.

   • 2000, Don Nardo, Rodney Castleden, King Arthur: The Truth Behind the Legend‎, Routledge, →ISBN, page 119:

     The difference between a dux bellorum and an overking is not clear, and it may be that the two concepts were elided into a single role.

Translations

a superior or supreme king

French: please add this translation if you can German: Oberkönig m Indonesian: adiraja (id) Japanese: 大王 (ja) (daiō) Latin: superrex

References

• “overking”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “overking”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “overking” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.
• “overking”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “overking”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• revoking