King

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, etc.

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.

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.

Currently (as of 2023^[update]), eighteen kings are recognized as the heads of state of sovereign states (i.e. monarchs whose native titles are officially or commonly rendered in English as "king").

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.