throne
Americannoun
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thrones
plural
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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.
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the office or dignity of a sovereign.
He came to the throne by succession.
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the occupant of a throne; sovereign.
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sovereign power or authority.
to address one's pleas to the throne.
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an episcopal office or authority.
the diocesan throne.
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thrones, an order of angels.
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Facetious. a toilet.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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the ceremonial seat occupied by a monarch, bishop, etc on occasions of state
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the power, duties, or rank ascribed to a royal person
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a person holding royal rank
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(plural; often capital) the third of the nine orders into which the angels are traditionally divided in medieval angelology
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of throne
1175–1225; Middle English < Latin thronus < Greek thrónos high seat; replacing Middle English trone < Old French < Latin, as above
Explanation
The oversized, bejeweled chair on which a king or queen sits is called a throne. Monarchs — kings and queens — sit on thrones on special ceremonial occasions, and so do religious figures such as bishops and popes. You can also describe the act of naming a new monarch this way: "Queen Elizabeth II of England was throned in 1952." The word throne has its root in the Greek thronos, "chair or elevated seat." In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was said to sit on a special heavenly seat, the Dios thronous.
Vocabulary lists containing throne
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At the time, Prince Harry was sixth in line to the British throne.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Henry Charles Albert David was born third in line to the throne, on September 15, 1984.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
The plethora of portraiture was part of Elizabeth’s campaign to both rehabilitate her mother’s image and strengthen her own claims to the throne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
"Having Harry nearby won't change the mood," said a former colleague of the heir to the throne.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
He jumps onto the couch, which is covered with a white sheet, like he’s a prince and that is his throne.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
The ceremony then culminated with Mullally being seated in two different thrones.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
On Friday Netflix aced out Paramount Skydance and Comcast to win this game of media thrones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Two thrones also used for props are up for sale.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025
Foo Fighters fired its new drummer Josh Freese this year, just two years into his tenure behind one of the most coveted thrones in rock following the death of Taylor Hawkins in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025
The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
A hoarder of women, art, antiquities — and most of all, money — Getty also might have taken issue with Portia’s claim that mercy “becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2017
So Blatter is seeking to be throned for another four years as Fifa big cheese at the elections to be held in June.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2011
The spectacle of John L. Lewis on Organized Labor's pinnacle, throned on Coal and crowned with Steel, is not fantastic.
From Time Magazine Archive
Behind the desk, in the chair, Franz Rosenzweig was throned.
From Time Magazine Archive
A kingdom where kings are throned and dethroned daily.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
My banishment to-day will free Kaikeyí from her cares, that she, At last contented and elate, May Bharat's throning celebrate.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin) Griffith
How heartily she rained them on the Tuileries and the majesty of the imperial court, throning on high above an abject and trembling people.
From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Émile Zola
Frederic, though great in royal throning, Well may amaze the earth, and heaven, When clothed by thunder and the levin Swerves he before the hero's fanfare.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 4 by Hamilton Wright Mabie
Thus toward that throning bosom Where all earth is warmed,—each spot Nourished with autumnal blessings - Icy chill was Daphne caught.
From Poems — Volume 1 by George Meredith
In our passage through life we meet scarcely any who do not persist, with a kind of unreasoning obstinacy, in throning the material within them, and there maintaining it supreme.
From The Buried Temple by Alfred Sutro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
