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:
Van Persie went on to score 26 times as United reclaimed the throne in Ferguson's final season - the club's 20th title - while Arsenal slipped to a distant fourth.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Harry reportedly remains estranged from Prince William, his brother and heir to the throne, and William's wife Catherine.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
His estranged brother’s decision to move back puts the heir to the throne under pressure to extend an olive branch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Crown Prince Haakon, 53, the successor to the Norwegian throne, has been serving as regent while his father is on leave.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
He wrote, “Fishes and beasts and fowls of the air devour one another. But to man, Zeus has given justice. Beside Zeus on his throne Justice has her seat.”
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
It depicts a medieval game of thrones as William the Conqueror fought King Harold to rule England.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
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
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
In the firelight, the thrones cast evil-looking shadows, like grasping hands.
From "The Last Olympian" 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
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 Robert Leighton
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
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
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
How low when angels fall their black descent, Our primal thunder tells: known is the pain Of music, that nigh throning wisdom went, And one false note cast wailful to the insane.
From Poems — Volume 1 by George Meredith
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.
