throne

[throhn]

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.

8. Facetious.,  a toilet.

verb (used with or without object)

throned, throning 

1. to sit on or as on a throne.

throne

/ θrəʊn /

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

verb

1. to place or be placed on a throne

Other Word Forms

• throneless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of throne¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Latin thronus < Greek thrónos high seat; replacing Middle English trone < Old French < Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of throne¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see power behind the throne.

Example Sentences

A titanium throne sits at the head of the room, behind a sleek silver desk.

Read more on Literature

At the time of the gift, Elizabeth's parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, before her father ascended to the throne as George VI, following his brother Edward VIII's abdication.

Read more on BBC

Father told me he has been expecting this to happen ever since June, when Ismail Pasha, the khedive of Egypt, abdicated the throne and his son Mehmet Tewfik Pasha became the new khedive.

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The heir to the throne, Prince William, who had just returned from the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, was not present.

Read more on Barron's

“And you put a stake in the ground. People are showing up. I don’t believe in crowns, thrones. No kings.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times