king of beasts

English

Etymology

From Middle English king of bestes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪŋ əv ˈbiːsts/

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

king of beasts (plural kings of beasts)

1. (idiomatic) The lion.
   • 1900 February 23, Hal Standish [pseudonym; Harvey King Shackleford], “Fred Fearnot in Johannesburg or, The Terrible Ride to Kimberley”, in Work and Win: An Interesting Weekly for Young America, number 64, New York, N.Y.: Frank Tousey, chapter VII (Terry’s Remarkable Exploit as a Lion Slayer), page 20, column 1:

     “Who shot the lions?” Fred asked. / “Yours truly,” answered Terry. “I shot them with my little gun. I wouldn’t tell a lie for a dozen lions.” Nearly every one in the command laughed heartily, and gathered around to see the big game. The scouts told how Terry had brought the two kings of beasts down, each at a single shot.

Related terms

• queen of beasts

Translations

the lion

• Arabic: مَلِك الوُحُوش (malik al-wuḥūš), مَلِك الغَابَة (malik al-ḡāba, literally “king of the forest/jungle”)
• Armenian: կենդանիների թագավոր (kendanineri tʻagavor)

  Old Armenian: թագաւոր կենդանեաց (tʻagawor kendaneacʻ)

• Belarusian: цар звяро́ў m (car zvjaróŭ)
• Bengali: হায়ওয়ানের বাদশাহ (haẏōẇaner badośah)
• Bulgarian: цар на живо́тните m (car na živótnite)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 國王野獸／国王野兽 (guówáng yěshòu)

• Czech: král zvířat m
• Danish: dyrenes konge
• Esperanto: reĝo de bestoj (eo)
• Finnish: eläinten kuningas
• French: roi des animaux (fr) m
• German: König der Tiere
• Greek: βασιλιάς των ζώων (el) m (vasiliás ton zóon)

  Ancient: βασιλεὺς τῶν θηρῶν m (basileùs tôn thērôn), βασιλεὺς τῶν ζῴων m (basileùs tôn zṓiōn)

• Hebrew: מֶלֶךְ הַחַיּוֹת (he) m (mélech haẖayyót)
• Hungarian: állatok királya
• Icelandic: konungur dýranna
• Italian: re degli animali m
• Japanese: 百獣の王 (ja) (ひゃくじゅうのおう, hyakujū no ō)
• Latin: rex animalium m
• Latvian: zvēru ķēniņš m
• Mongolian: араатны хаан (araatny xaan)
• Old Church Slavonic: краль звѣрии m (kralĭ zvěrii)
• Old Norse: dróttinn dýranna
• Polish: król zwierząt (pl) m
• Portuguese: rei dos animais m
• Romanian: regele animalelor m
• Russian: ца́рь звере́й (ru) m (cárʹ zveréj)
• Sanskrit: राजा पशूनाम् (rājā paśūnām)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: краљ животиња m

  Roman: kralj životinja m

• Slovak: kráľ zvierat m
• Slovene: kralj živalov m
• Spanish: rey de la selva m
• Swedish: djurens konung (sv) c
• Turkish: ormanlar kralı (literally “king of the forests”), hayvanlar kralı (literally “king of the animals”)
• Ukrainian: цар звірі́в m (car zvirív), король звірі́в m (korolʹ zvirív)