国王
Meaning in Englishking
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
国王 (kokuou) means a king: the sovereign head of a kingdom or nation, often used as a formal title for a monarch who holds supreme authority or ceremonial status within a state.
Main meanings
- Used to refer to a reigning monarch as an official or diplomatic title distinct from informal words for king.
- Applied in translations and historical texts to name foreign rulers who hold the title “king.”
- Occasionally used figuratively to describe someone dominant in a field (e.g., “king of pop”), in a literary or hyperbolic sense.
- Can imply either a ceremonial sovereign or an actual ruling monarch depending on context and era.
How to use it
Common in formal writing, history books, news reports, diplomatic language and translations when naming monarchs; less common in casual speech where 王様 (ousama) is preferred; appears frequently in academic, legal and literary contexts as a neutral, formal term for a monarch.
Variants and close terms
- 王様 (ousama) — polite/casual 'king' used in everyday speech and stories.
- 王 (ou) — shorter 'king' used in compounds and names.
- 女王 (joou) — 'queen', female counterpart.
- 君主 (kunshu) — 'sovereign' or 'ruler', broader term.
Composition
- 国 = country, nation, territory.
- 王 = king, ruler.
- The compound literally combines these characters to mean the ruler of a country: 'country' + 'king' → 'king of a nation.'
Origin
The term entered Japanese with kanji compounds imported from classical Chinese political vocabulary during the Asuka–Nara period and has been used in official records and literary translations to denote the concept of a king since early historical writing.
Word class
noun (名詞), compound noun (複合名詞)