kingdom

American  

[king-duhm] / ˈkɪŋ dəm /

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.

   Synonyms:

   domain, empire, dominion

3. a realm or province of nature, especially one of the three broad divisions of natural objects.

   the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.

4. 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).

5. the spiritual sovereignty of God or Christ.

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

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kingdom British  

/ 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

3. 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

4. theol the eternal sovereignty of God

5. an area of activity, esp mental activity, considered as being the province of something specified

   the kingdom of the mind

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kingdom Scientific  

/ kĭng′dəm /

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.

2. See Table at taxonomy

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kingdom Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Related Words

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 Word Forms

• kingdomless adjective
• underkingdom noun

Etymology

Origin of kingdom

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English cyningdōm; king, -dom

Explanation

A kingdom is a territory or group of people ruled by the same monarch. You probably know the story of the prince who searched the kingdom to find the girl who left her glass slipper at the ball. A kingdom is a place — either literal or imagined — where someone or something reigns. A queen rules over her kingdom, which is land and the people who live on it, while a certain pop singer has a kingdom of young fans. In "the kingdom of the mind," creativity and imagination — not kings or queens — rule. In biology, a kingdom is a grouping of like organisms. For example, a dog is a member of the animal kingdom.

Example Sentences

Following Leo's address, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, said that she stood with the Pope in his "courageous call for a kingdom of peace".

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

The East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia takes oil from fields in the east of the kingdom to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, which is on the kingdom’s west coast.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Iraq—heavily reliant on the critical waterway—suffered the steepest decline, followed by Saudi Arabia, though the kingdom managed to reroute flows through the Red Sea.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

The area has long been a centre of agricultural production, with its green fields and bountiful orchards offering a striking contrast to the vast tracts of desert that cover most of the kingdom.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

I always imagined the king laid the rug in his audience hall so that anyone who came to petition him would step on the greatest treasure in the kingdom.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri