kingdom

[ king-duhm ]
See synonyms for kingdom on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a state or government having a king or queen as its head.

  2. anything conceived as constituting a realm or sphere of independent action or control: the kingdom of thought.

  1. a realm or province of nature, especially one of the three broad divisions of natural objects: the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.

  2. Biology. a taxonomic category of the second highest rank, just below domain: in a traditional five-kingdom classification scheme, separate kingdoms are assigned to animals (Animalia), plants (Plantae), fungi (Fungi), protozoa and eukaryotic algae (Protista), and bacteria (Monera).

  3. the spiritual sovereignty of God or Christ.

  4. the domain over which the spiritual sovereignty of God or Christ extends, whether in heaven or on earth.

Origin of kingdom

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English cyningdōm; see origin at king, -dom

synonym study For kingdom

1. Kingdom, monarchy, realm refer to the state or domain ruled by a king or queen. A kingdom is a governmental unit ruled by a king or queen: the kingdom of Norway. A monarchy is primarily a form of government in which a single person is sovereign; it is also the type of power exercised by the monarch: This kingdom is not an absolute monarchy. A realm is the domain, including the subjects, over which the king has jurisdiction; figuratively, a sphere of power or influence: the laws of the realm.

Other words for kingdom

Other words from kingdom

  • un·der·king·dom, noun

Words Nearby kingdom

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use kingdom in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for kingdom

kingdom

/ (ˈkɪŋdəm) /


noun
  1. a territory, state, people, or community ruled or reigned over by a king or queen

  2. any of the three groups into which natural objects may be divided: the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms

  1. biology any of the major categories into which living organisms of the domain Eukarya are classified. Modern systems recognize four kingdoms: Protoctista (algae, protozoans, etc), Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia: See also domain (def. 12)

  2. theol the eternal sovereignty of God

  3. an area of activity, esp mental activity, considered as being the province of something specified: the kingdom of the mind

Derived forms of kingdom

  • kingdomless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for kingdom

kingdom

[ kĭngdəm ]


  1. The highest classification into which living organisms are grouped in Linnean taxonomy, ranking above a phylum. One widely accepted system of classification divides life into five kingdoms: prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. See Table at taxonomy.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for kingdom

kingdom

In biology, the largest of the divisions of living things. The best-known kingdoms are those of the plants and animals. Modern biologists recognize three additional kingdoms: Monera (or Prokaryotae) (for example, bacteria and blue-green algae), Protoctista (for example, red algae, slime molds, and amoebas and other protozoa), and fungi. (See Linnean classification.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.