The Latin title has the meaning of "king, ruler" (
monarch
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". 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 ...
).
It is derived from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
''*h₃rḗǵs''. Its cognates include Sanskrit ''
rājan'', Gothic ''
reiks'', and Old Irish ''
rí'', etc. Its Greek equivalent is (), "leader, ruler, chieftain".
The
chief magistrate
A 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 admi ...
of the
Roman Kingdom was titled ''Rex Romae'' (
King of Rome).
See also
*
R.
*
Reich
( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...
*
Dux
*
Basileus
''Basileus'' () is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English language, English-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean , referring to either a or an . The title ...
*
Germanic king
References
Latin words and phrases
Roman historiography
Royal titles
Kings
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