throne
Americannoun
-
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.
-
the office or dignity of a sovereign.
He came to the throne by succession.
-
the occupant of a throne; sovereign.
-
sovereign power or authority.
to address one's pleas to the throne.
-
an episcopal office or authority.
the diocesan throne.
-
thrones, an order of angels.
-
Facetious. a toilet.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
-
the ceremonial seat occupied by a monarch, bishop, etc on occasions of state
-
the power, duties, or rank ascribed to a royal person
-
a person holding royal rank
-
(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
"The Lotus Seed"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
King Tut Day
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
An Asahi Shimbun poll in May also showed 72 percent of respondents in favour of changing the rules to allow women to ascend the throne.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
For the 25,000th, someone made a throne of beer crates and sat on it, pint in hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
"The reason Aldi cannot simply out-discount its way to the throne is that Walmart fights with a war chest and Aldi fights with a scalpel," Sheldon explained.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
But now his physical resilience was under the spotlight - and the early signs at Wimbledon offered encouragement to those eyeing his throne.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Crowds lined the parade route, waiting to catch a glimpse of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne of Austria-Hungary, seat of the thousand-year-old Hapsburg Empire.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
The ceremony then culminated with Mullally being seated in two different thrones.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
The objects, which include richly embroidered vestments and lavishly sculpted monstrances, Eucharist thrones and sanctuary lamps made of jewel-studded precious metals, are eye-catchingly high Baroque.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 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
As the noise and colour of a two-month election campaign subsides, a game of thrones between the two most powerful families in the Philippines resumes.
From BBC ● May 13, 2025
Hizdahr’s grotesque dragon thrones had been removed at Ser Barristan’s command, but he had not brought back the simple pillowed bench the queen had favored.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
Behind the desk, in the chair, Franz Rosenzweig was throned.
From Time Magazine Archive
They have commanded knights and serfs, taken walled towns and sat throned among their armies.
From Time Magazine Archive
A kingdom where kings are throned and dethroned daily.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Kenric was attired in the same fashion as on the day of his throning, but that he now wore no covering upon his head.
From The Thirsty Sword by Leighton, Robert
According to the ethics of the day, he was a model citizen, whereas Antony throning as Osiris with a female Mithridates for consort, was as oblivious of Roman dignity as of conjugal faith.
From Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern by Saltus, Edgar
Above their heads the trees met in a brown-and-purple tracery of boughs, and on their right, through the branches, they saw a pale full moon, throning it in a silver sky.
From The Testing of Diana Mallory by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
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 Mabie, Hamilton Wright
Now little Ronald Campbell was the same who had picked up Earl Kenric's gauntlet on the day of his throning on the Great Plain.
From The Thirsty Sword by Leighton, Robert
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.
