underking
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An inferior or subordinate king; a viceroy.
Example Sentences
- "From the Johore capital on the island of Pulau Penyengat in the Riau Archipelago, where Parani's brother became "underking" to a puppet Malay sultan, the Bugis extended their control over the tin negeri of Kedah and Perak, [...]"
- "Bede himself used it in this context, among others, referring for example to Peada, Penda's son and the underking of the Middle Saxons, as a princeps."
- "“I am an advisor in his role as an InterSec director, Lord Guardian, not his counselor as underKing to the Inverni.” Aran made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “A distinction without a difference. [...]”"
Etymology
From Middle English underking, from Old English undercing, undercyning (“under-king, viceroy”), possibly from Proto-West Germanic *underkuning, from Proto-Germanic *underkuningaz, equivalent to under- + king. Cognate with Dutch onderkoning (“viceroy”), German Unterkönig (“underking”), Danish underkonge (“underking”), Swedish underkung (“underking”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
underkings (plural)
under-king (alternative)