king of kings

See also: King of Kings

English

Etymology

Attested in Middle English as king of kinges. An ancient formula which seems to have originated in a Semitic language of the Ancient Near East; see Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠𐭭 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāhān-šāh, “king of kings”) for more.

Noun

king of kings (plural kings of kings)

A king who has other kings as subjects; an emperor.
Synonym: high king

Hyponyms: maharajadhiraja, rajadhiraja, shahanshah

Translations

king who has other kings as subjects — see also shahanshah

Akkadian: 𒈗𒊭𒈗𒈨𒌍 (šar šarrāni)
Amharic: ንጉሠ ነገሥት (nəguśä nägäśt)
Arabic: مَلِكُ الْمُلُوكِ m (maliku l-mulūki)
Armenian: արքայից արքա (arkʻayicʻ arkʻa)
Old Armenian: թագաւորաց թագաւոր (tʻagaworacʻ tʻagawor), արքայից արքայ (arkʻayicʻ arkʻay)
Bengali: শাহেনশাহ (śahenośah)
Bulgarian: цар на царете (car na carete)
Catalan: rei de reis
Chinese:
Mandarin: 萬王之王 / 万王之王 (wànwángzhīwáng)
Czech: král králů
Danish: kongernes konge
Dutch: koning der koningen
Finnish: kuningasten kuningas
French: roi des rois
German: König der Könige
Greek: βασιλέας των βασιλέων (vasiléas ton vasiléon)
Ancient Greek: βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλέων (basileùs tôn basiléōn)
Hebrew: מלך המלכים (mélekh ha-m'lakhím)
Hindi: शहंशाह (hi) m (śahañśāh), शाहंशाह (hi) m (śāhañśāh), शहनशाह m (śahanśāh), सम्राट m (samrāṭ), चक्रवर्ती (hi) m (cakravartī), राजाधिराज (hi) m (rājādhirāj), महाराज (hi) m (mahārāj), महाराजा m (mahārājā)
Hungarian: királyok királya
Indonesian: rajadiraja
Italian: re dei re
Latin: rēx rēgum
Latvian: karaļu karalis
Lithuanian: karalių karalius
Malay: raja segala raja
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kongenes konge
Persian: شاهنشاه (fa) (šâhanšâh)
Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠𐭭 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāhān-šāh)

Old Persian: 𐏋 𐏐 𐏋𐎠𐎴𐎠𐎶 (XŠ : XŠ-a-n-a-m)
Polish: król królow
Portuguese: rei dos reis
Romanian: rege al regilor
Russian: царь царе́й m (carʹ caréj)
Sanskrit: राजाधिराज (sa) m (rājādhirāja)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: краљ краљева

Roman: kralj kraljeva
Slovak: kráľ kráľov
Spanish: rey de reyes
Swedish: konungarnas konung
Tagalog: hari ng mga hari
Ukrainian: цар царів m (car cariv)
Urdu: شہنشاہ (śehanśāh)

Proper noun

king of kings

The title of an individual king who has other kings as subjects; in particular:
Synonym: high king
1. God.
  2. (Christianity) Jesus Christ.
    Synonym: Lord of Lords
    - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 17:14:
      These shal make warre with the Lambe, and the Lambe shal ouercome them: For he is Lord of Lords, and King of kings, and they that are with him, are called, & chosen, and faithfull.