Kinging

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The behavior of conducting oneself as a leader or ruler; the act of taking on royal responsibilities or duties; a concept indicating the rise to a position of great influence and control within a community
2. The act of behaving as a monarch, assuming control or command over others
3. Engaging in conduct typical of a king, demonstrating authority and leadership qualities

Etymology: Kinging is simply "king" with the "-ing" ending added, and the more striking story lies in the root "king" itself. It descends from a Proto-Germanic word, "kuningaz," built from "kunją," meaning "clan, family, kin," which traces back to a prehistoric root meaning "to produce; to beget." In other words, the earliest sense of the word for a ruler was closer to "one of the family" than to "sovereign." The "-ing" suffix in that old word originally marked "son of" or "descendant of," so a king was, at root, a man of the kin. Old English "cyning" carried the same idea, and it sat alongside "cyning"'s near-relative "cnēo" and the related Slavic "knez," which likewise came to mean "prince" or "priest" in different languages. This is why the verb can feel slightly unexpected. Its base sense is about belonging to a lineage and standing at its head, and "kinging" in the sense of acting regally carries that old association of rule rooted in the family.

Synonyms: ruling, reigning, governing, leading, commanding

Antonyms: submitting, serving, obeying, yielding, following