The Latin title ''rex'' has the meaning of "king, ruler" (
monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
).
It is derived from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
''*h₃rḗǵs''. Its cognates include Sanskrit ''
rājan
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being atte ...
'', Gothic ''
reiks
Reiks (; pronunciation ; Latinized as ''rix'') is a Gothic title for a tribal ruler, often translated as "king".
In the Gothic Bible, it translates to the Greek '' árchōn'' (ἄρχων).
It is presumably translated as '' basiliskos'' (βασ ...
'', and Old Irish ''
rí
Rí, or commonly ríg (genitive), is an ancient Gaelic word meaning 'king'. It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings, and those of similar rank. While the Modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish ...
'', etc. Its Greek equivalent is ''
archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
'' (ἄρχων), "leader, ruler, chieftain".
The
chief magistrate
Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...
of the
Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...
was titled ''Rex Romae'' (
King of Rome
The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...
).
Usage
*
Rex Catholicissimus
The Latin title ''Rex Catholicissimus'', Anglicized as ''Most Catholic King'' or ''Most Catholic Majesty'', was awarded by the Pope to the Sovereigns of Spain. It was first used by Pope Alexander VI in the papal bull ''Inter caetera'' in 1493.
...
(Most Catholic King), awarded by the Pope to the Spanish monarchs since 1493
*Romanorum Rex (
King of the Romans
King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward.
The title originally referred to any German k ...
), used by the German king since the 11th century
*Rex Britanniae (King of Britain),
Æthelbald of Mercia
Æthelbald (also spelled Ethelbald or Aethelbald; died 757) was the King of Mercia, in what is now the English Midlands from 716 until he was killed in 757. Æthelbald was the son of Alweo and thus a grandson of King Eowa. Æthelbald came to t ...
(737)
*Rex Scottorum (
King of the Scots
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...
), used by the Scottish king between the 11th century and 1707
*Rex Sclavorum (
King of the Slavs King of the Slavs ( la, rex Sclavorum, Sclavorum rex) was a title denoting some Slavic rulers, as well as Germanic rulers that conquered Slavs, in the Middle Ages in European sources, such as Papal correspondence.
Papal use is bolded.
;Slavic
*Sa ...
), various Medieval Slavic rulers
See also
*
R.
*
Reich
''Reich'' (; ) is a German language, German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emp ...
*
Dux
''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...
*
Basileus
''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean "monarch", referring to either a "king" or an "emperor" and al ...
*
Germanic king
Germanic kingship is a thesis regarding the role of kings among the pre-Christianized Germanic tribes of the Migration period (c. 300–700 AD) and Early Middle Ages (c. 700–1,000 AD). The thesis holds that the institution of feudal m ...
References
Latin words and phrases
Roman historiography
Royal titles
Kings
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