An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/König
König, masculine, ‘king,’ from the equivalent Middle High German künic, künc (g), Old High German chunig, chuning; corresponding to Old Saxon cuning, Anglo-Saxon cyning (cyng,) English king, Dutch koning, Old Icelandic konungr; a common Teutonic term, wanting only in Gothic. The high antiquity of the term is attested by its being borrowed at an early period by Finnish and Esthonian as kuningas, ‘king,’ by Old Slovenian as kŭnęgŭ, kŭnęzĭ, ‘prince,’ Lithuanian as kùningas, ‘lord, pastor’ (Lettic kungs, ‘lord’). The word may be most probably explained by connecting it with Gothic kuni (genitive kunjis), Old High German chunni, Middle High German künne, Anglo-Saxon cynn, ‘family.’ Regarding -ing as a patronymic (Anglo-Saxon Wôdening, ‘son of Woden’), the meaning would be ‘a man of family,’ i.e, of a distinguished family, ‘ex nobilitate ortus’ (Tacitus, Germ. vii.). This simple and satisfactory explanation is opposed by the fact that in Old Teutonic kuni- alone means ‘king,’ which has been preserved especially in compounds such as Anglo-Saxon cyne-helm, ‘king's helmet,’ i.e. ‘crown,’ cynestôl, ‘king's seat,’ i.e. ‘throne,’ cynerice, equivalent to Old High German chunirîhhi, ‘kingdom,’ &c.; the simple form is perhaps found only in Old Icelandic poetry as konr (i-stem), ‘man of noble birth, relative of the king.’ In tracing the evolution in meaning, this fact can no more be rejected than the former; in this case too König would contain the essential idea of distinguished birth, but perhaps more accurately ‘the son of a man of distinguished birth’; compare French and English prince, signifying both Prinz (male member of the royal family) and Fürst (a sovereign ruler, and also a title next above Count). The etymological connection between English king and queen must be discarded, since the latter signified ‘woman’ generally; yet it is of some value in illustrating the development of meaning in the word König; Anglo-Saxon cwên is especially ‘the noble lady.’