Etymograph

English

throne

Throne comes from Latin thronus ‘a throne’, and goes back to Ancient Greek θρόνος ‘a seat, chair’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθρόνος1thrónos‘a seat, chair’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEthronus1‘a throne’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400trone1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trone1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611throne1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English throne
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθρόνοςWiktionary, English thronethrónos‘a seat, chair’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEthronusWiktionary, English throne‘a throne’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400troneWiktionary, English throne
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500troneWiktionary, English throne
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611throneWiktionary, English throne. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great…”

The story

Superseded earlier seld (‘seat, throne’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to hold’

dark, drug, firm, dry, drama, dare, drain, feasible, formidable, drastic, refrain, darn, dharma, drone, dazed, dor, dern, 42 more

Today it means

noun An impressive seat used by a monarch, often on a raised dais in a throne room and reserved for formal occasions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “throne”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek θρόνος / throne

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