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:
Her groom had ascended to the Qing throne at the age of 2, only to see his rule end four years later when a rebellion toppled the imperial system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Musk’s post shows Anakin, as played by actor Hayden Christensen, sitting on a throne surrounded by his children, Luke and Leia, and his wife, Padme.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026
Harry, the second son of King Charles III and estranged brother of heir to the throne Prince William, married the American Meghan, a former actress, at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
Hannah Seo investigates why the iconic Concord grape lost its throne.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2026
She’s fully asleep on her velvet throne, whiskers twitching occasionally.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
While Price and his colleagues go to take advantage of the open bar, I chat with New York State Young Democrats chief of staff Avi Presberg, 28, upon the restaurant’s lion-headed thrones.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
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
Two thrones also used for props are up for sale.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025
In the dark inner chamber the God and Goddess were seated on their thrones, freshly anointed and garlanded with flowers.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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
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 Edgar Saltus
Those preparations check with speed, Nor let my throning rites proceed.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin) Griffith
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 Mrs. Humphry Ward
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
Whate'er the rites of throning need Placed on a car the way shall lead: The sacred vessels I will take To the wild wood for Ráma's sake.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin) Griffith
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