The Latin title ''rex'' has the meaning of "king, ruler" (
monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
).
It is derived from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...
''*h₃rḗǵs''. Its cognates include Sanskrit ''
rājan'', Gothic ''
reiks'', and Old Irish ''
rí'', etc. Its Greek equivalent is ''
archon'' (ἄρχων), "leader, ruler, chieftain".
The
chief magistrate of the
Roman Kingdom was titled ''Rex Romae'' (
King of Rome).
Usage
*
Rex Catholicissimus (Most Catholic King), awarded by the Pope to the Spanish monarchs since 1493
*Romanorum Rex (
King of the Romans), used by the German king since the 11th century
*Rex Britanniae (King of Britain),
Æthelbald of Mercia (737)
*Rex Scottorum (
King of the Scots), used by the Scottish king between the 11th century and 1707
*Rex Sclavorum (
King of the Slavs), various Medieval Slavic rulers
See also
*
R.
*
Reich
*
Dux
*
Basileus
*
Germanic king
References
Latin words and phrases
Roman historiography
Royal titles
Kings
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