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throne

[throhn]
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noun
  1. the chair or seat occupied by a sovereign, bishop, or other exalted personage on ceremonial occasions, usually raised on a dais and covered with a canopy.
  2. the office or dignity of a sovereign: He came to the throne by succession.
  3. the occupant of a throne; sovereign.
  4. sovereign power or authority: to address one's pleas to the throne.
  5. an episcopal office or authority: the diocesan throne.
  6. mourners' bench.
  7. thrones, an order of angels.Compare angel(def 1).
  8. Facetious. a toilet.
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verb (used with or without object), throned, thron·ing.
  1. to sit on or as on a throne.
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Origin of throne

1175–1225; Middle English < Latin thronus < Greek thrónos high seat; replacing Middle English trone < Old French < Latin, as above
Related formsthrone·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for throne

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • On the 5th of February the king attended and delivered the speech from the throne in person.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • Fifty years before Queen Victoria had ascended the throne of England.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • Either the help I implored wasn't good for me, or my voice couldn't soar to His throne.

  • I feel myself to be back upon my throne when I look at them.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • At night, our couch will be on a platform surmounted by a canopy like a throne.

    The Dream

    Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for throne

throne

noun
  1. the ceremonial seat occupied by a monarch, bishop, etc on occasions of state
  2. the power, duties, or rank ascribed to a royal person
  3. a person holding royal rank
  4. (plural; often capital) the third of the nine orders into which the angels are traditionally divided in medieval angelology
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verb
  1. to place or be placed on a throne
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Derived Formsthroneless, adjective

Word Origin

C13: from Old French trone, from Latin thronus, from Greek thronos throne
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

Word Origin and History for throne

n.

mid-13c., from Old French trone (12c.), from Latin thronus, from Greek thronos "elevated seat, chair, throne," from PIE root *dher- (2) "to hold firmly, support" (cf. Latin firmus "firm, steadfast, strong, stable," Sanskrit dharma "statute, law;" see firm (adj.)). Colloquial meaning "toilet" is recorded from 1922.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with throne

throne

see power behind the throne.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.