Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferrex The Scurvy
King in its common usage does generally refer to male monarchs. But the origins of the word and its usage are not really gender specific, at least according to the Online Etymology Dictionary:
king
O.E. cyning, from P.Gmc. *kuninggaz (cf. Du. koning, O.H.G. kuning, O.N. konungr, Dan. konge, Ger. könig). Possibly related to O.E. cynn "family, race" (see kin), making a king originally a "leader of the people;" or from a related root suggesting "noble birth," making a king originally "one who descended from noble birth." The sociological and ideological implications make this a topic of much debate. Finnish kuningas "king," O.C.S. kunegu "prince" (Rus. knyaz, Boh. knez), Lith. kunigas "clergyman" are loans from Gmc. In O.E., used for names of chiefs of Anglian and Saxon tribes or clans, then of the states they founded. Also extended to British and Danish chiefs they fought. The chess piece so called from 1411; the playing card from 1563; use in checkers/draughts first recorded 1820. Applied in nature to species deemed remarkably big or dominant (e.g. king crab, 1698),
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That refers to the fictional "proto" Germanic languages and Old High German. In English, a "Reigning Queen" is a femal leader of a people.
Note that "proto" languages, are all imaginary. Linguist try to run a complete circle by theorizing what spoken language hundreds or thousands of years ago, was, then call it "proto-whatever." Which is to say, complete fiction, at best.