King
Title given to a male monarch
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies (either absolute or constitutional). The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs: in the West, emperor, grand prince, prince, archduke, duke or grand duke, and in the Islamic world, malik, sultan, emir or hakim, among others.
The term king may also refer to a king consort, a title that is sometimes given to the husband of a queen regnant, but the title of prince consort is more common.
01Etymology
The word king traces back to late Old English cyning, meaning "ruler" or "leader," derived from Proto-Germanic kuningaz. This root also gave rise to similar terms across other Germanic languages, such as Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Danish konge, and German König. The precise origin of "kuningaz" remains uncertain, but it may be linked to Old English cynn ("family, race"), suggesting that a king was originally viewed as the "leader of the kin" or "head of the people." Another theory proposes that the term referred to one "of noble descent," connecting kingship with divine or aristocratic lineage. Linguists and historians have long debated the social and ideological meanings behind this relationship between king and kin, though the linguistic connection is widely accepted.
02Current kings
Currently (as of 2023), eighteen kings are recognized as the heads of state of sovereign states. Most of these kings serve as heads of state in constitutional monarchies. However, those ruling over absolute monarchies include the King of Saudi Arabia and the King of Eswatini.
| Sovereign state | Portrait | King | Title | House | Since | Monarchy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigua and Barbuda | Charles III | King |
|
8 September 2022 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Australia | King | |||||
| The Bahamas | King | |||||
| Belize | King | |||||
| Canada | King, Roi | |||||
| Grenada | King | |||||
| Jamaica | King | |||||
| New Zealand | King, Kīngi | |||||
| Papua New Guinea | King | |||||
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | King | |||||
| Saint Lucia | King | |||||
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | King | |||||
| Solomon Islands | King | |||||
| Tuvalu | King | |||||
| United Kingdom | King | |||||
| Bahrain | Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa | ملك (malik) | Khalifa | 14 February 2002 | Hereditary, semi-constitutional | |
| Belgium | Philippe | Koning, Roi, König | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | 21 July 2013 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Bhutan | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck | འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ (druk gyalpo) | Wangchuck | 9 December 2006 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Cambodia | Norodom Sihamoni | ស្ដេច (sdac) | Norodom | 14 October 2004 | Elective, constitutional | |
| Denmark | Frederik X | Konge |
|
14 January 2024 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Eswatini | Mswati III | Ngwenyama | Dlamini | 25 April 1986 | Hereditary, absolute | |
| Jordan | Abdullah II | ملك (malik) | Hashim | 7 February 1999 | Hereditary, semi-constitutional | |
| Lesotho | Letsie III | Morena, King | Moshesh | 7 February 1996 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Malaysia | Ibrahim Iskandar | Yang di-Pertuan Agong (يڠ دڤرتوان اݢوڠ) | Temenggong | 31 January 2024 | Elective, constitutional | |
| Morocco | Mohammed VI | ملك (malik), ⴰⴳⵍⵍⵉⴷ (agllid) | Alawi | 23 July 1999 | Hereditary, semi-constitutional | |
| Netherlands | Willem-Alexander | Koning |
|
30 April 2013 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Norway | Haakon VIII | Konge | Glücksburg | 28 August 2026 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Saudi Arabia | Salman | ملك (malik) | Saud | 23 January 2015 | Hereditary, absolute | |
| Spain | Felipe VI | Rey | Bourbon | 19 June 2014 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Sweden | Carl XVI Gustaf | Konung | Bernadotte | 15 September 1973 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Thailand | Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) | กษัตริย์ (kasat) | Chakri | 13 October 2016 | Hereditary, constitutional | |
| Tonga | Tupou VI | Tuʻi, King | Tupou | 18 March 2012 | Hereditary, constitutional |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “King”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Aachen Domschatz Bueste1.jpg by Beckstet, CC BY-SA 3.0
- King Charles III (July 2023).jpg by White House, Public domain
- Bilateral Meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa - 54551307222 (cropped).jpg by DHSgov, Public domain
- King Philippe of Belgium (January 2025).jpg by Laurie DIEFFEMBACQ, Attribution
- Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck at the Enthronement of Naruhito.jpg by 首相官邸ホームページ, CC BY 4.0
- King Norodom Sihamoni (2019).jpg by Website of the Prime Minister of Japan, CC BY 4.0
- King Frederik X in 2025.jpg by Finnish Government, CC BY 2.0
- Mswati III in Yokohama (cropped).jpg by Cabinet Public Relations Office of the Cabinet Secretariat, CC BY 4.0
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