kingdom

American  

[king-duhm] / ˈkɪŋ dəm /

noun

• kingdoms
  plural

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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Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

• underkingdom
  noun
• kingdomless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• kingdoms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kingdom

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English cyningdōm; see origin at 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

See Examples For:

kingdom kingdoms

China's foreign ministry has told its citizens to leave the southern African kingdom of Eswatini over "security risks".

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Although the phenomenon is common throughout the animal kingdom, scientists are still working to understand the biological processes underlying it and why it has persisted over evolutionary history.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Conservation teams and experts were checking Granada's Alhambra palace, a UNESCO-listed jewel of medieval Islamic architecture and the seat of Spain's last Muslim kingdom, the site wrote on X.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

As a Dutchman, William sought to weaponize his new kingdom against his longtime enemy, Louis XIV of France.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

A group of Jews who tried to sail south from the port of Cádiz to the kingdom of Fez died in a terrible fire.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

To reach the common ancestor shared by the plant and animal kingdoms, Anderson says researchers must look back to around 1.6 billion years ago.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Roman power has collapsed in Britain, which is now a patchwork of minor kingdoms where all politics is local and low-level warfare is constant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Thriving thanks to their strategic geographical position, strong state backing and leading carriers, huge air hubs in the Gulf oil kingdoms have been shaken by the conflict over Iran.

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

It didn’t necessarily have to be the conversation about the kingdoms, but just Egg, in his way, making sure that Dunk never feels like he knows anything.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026

Some stories were picked up and passed from mouth to mouth, crossing kingdoms and oceans, while others perished quickly, repeated a few times and never again.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee