▪ I. throne, n.
(θrəʊn)
Forms: α. 3–6 trone, (4 tron, tronne, 4–5 troone, 4–6 Sc. trown, trowne, 5 troyne, 5–6 Sc. troune, 6 Sc. trune). β. 3– throne, (4 thron, 6–7 throan).
[a. OF. trone (12th c. in Godef. Compl.), mod.F. trône, ad. L. thron-us, a. Gr. θρόνος an elevated seat.]
1. a. The seat of state of a potentate or dignitary; esp. the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; formerly often an elaborate elevated structure, richly ornamented; now a more or less ornate chair, with a footstool, usually placed upon a dais and standing under a canopy.
| α a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 259 Sitten in a trone se swiðe briht wid ȝimmes i-stirret. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 93/35 Þe Aumperour sat In is trone. a 1300 Cursor M. 9944 (Cott.) Wit-in þis tour..Es sett a tron [Gött. trone]. c 1425 Cast Persev. 459 in Macro Plays 91 Mundus. Now I sytte in my semly sale; I trotte & tremle in my trew trone... Kyng, knyth & kayser, to me makyn mone. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 94 Brutell beistis set vp in ane trune [rime mune]. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 177 The trone royall, vnder the clothe of estate. |
| β 1390 Gower Conf. III. 167 Wher he was in his real Throne. c 1400 Maundev. (1839) xx. 217 The Emperoures throne fulle high, where he sytteth at the mete. 1570 Levins Manip. 168/10 A Throne, thronus, ni. 1591 Drayton Harmonie of Ch. (Percy Soc.) 20 See where Salomon is set In royal throan. 1611 Bible Matt. xix. 28 Ye also shal sit vpon twelue thrones, iudging the twelue tribes of Israel. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. vii. 32 A throne of red wood, rais'd by five steps. 1855 Pusey Doctr. Real Presence Note S. 390 Make thy left hand as if a throne for thy right. |
b. The seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 457 Þe pope sittiþ in his troone & makiþ lordis to kisse his feet. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxii. 216 They founde the pope set in his trone. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 121 In those Times, the Bishops preach'd on the Steps of the Altar.., having not as yet assum'd to themselves the Pride and State of a Throne. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 15 No chair of dignified ease was a bishop's throne in the sixth century. 1910 Kelly's Directory of Oxford, The Cathedral... The bishop's throne..was erected as a memorial to the late Bishop Wilberforce. |
c. A seat provided by portrait-painters for their sitters: see
quot. 1859.
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. x, A very faded chair raised upon a very dusty throne in Miss La Creevy's room. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 199 The Throne is the name portrait painters give the chair provided for their ‘sitters’, from the circumstance of its being placed on a raised daïs covered usually with red cloth. |
d. fig. A lavatory bowl and pedestal or other supporting structure.
colloq.| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 39 In a Greek watercloset he breathed his last... With beaded mitre and with crozier, stalled upon his throne. 1941 F. Thompson Over to Candleford vi. 95 The commode turned out to be a kind of throne with carpeted steps and a lid which opened. 1960 J. J. Rowlands Spindrift 52 Our plumber..revealed that the water level in the ‘throne’ works just like the old glass water barometer. 1981 S. Rushdie Midnight's Children i. 62 A wooden ‘thunderbox’—a ‘throne’—lay on one side, empty enamel pot rolling on coir matting. |
2. a. As the seat of a deity,
esp. of God or Christ.
the throne of grace or simply
the throne, the mercy-seat, the place where God is conceived as seated to answer prayer.
| α a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 191 Þu ert hore blostme biuoren godes trone. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 794 Þu sittis with god in til his trowne. 1382 Wyclif Heb. iv. 16 Therfore go we with trist to the trone of his grace. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 134 Þe trone þat trinite ynne sitteþ. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. i. (1495) 8 Cryste Iesus..syttyng in his trone of jugement. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. vi. Wks. (1876) 9 Euery man & woman shall stande before the trone of almyghty god. 1526 Tindale Rev. xiv. 5 They are with outen spott before the trone off God. 1559 Mirr. Mag. (1563) V iij, The trone of mighty Jove. |
| β c 1290 Beket 2304 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 172 Bi-fore ore louerd sone..ase he sat in is throne. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Morn. Pr., Exhort., The throne of the heauenlie grace. 1662 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 17. xiii. iii. 101 It sends them to the Throne of Grace. c 1765 M. Bruce Hymn, ‘Where high [etc.]’ vi, With boldness, therefore, at the throne, Let us make all our sorrows known. 1849 W. K. Tweedie Life J. MacDonald 157 It was made a frequent errand to the throne. 1875 Bp. Bickersteth Hymn, ‘Peace, perfect peace’, Jesus we know, and He is on the throne. |
b. Phr.
the Great White Throne, used of the throne of God with allusion to Revelation xx. 11. Also
fig.| 1850 Browning Christmas Eve & Easter Day 116 Is Judgment past for me alone?—And where had place the Great White Throne? 1873 C. M. Yonge Pillars of House III. xxxii. 212 It was his first mountain... He raised his hat with an instinct of reverence..then murmured, ‘One seems nearer the Great White Throne!’ 1922 E. E. Cummings Enormous Room vii. 155 The Mecca of respectability, the Great White Throne of purity. |
† 3. In the phrase
in (on) throne: enthroned;
esp. as said of God or Christ.
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 40 Þi swete blisfule sune..sette þe ine trone. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 4 Þou sittis on trone þ{supt} demys rightwisnes. 1340 ― Pr. Consc. 5080 Hyde us Fra þe face of hym þat syttes in throne. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 162, Y swere by cryst in trone. c 1440 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) App. XX. 446 To king he was iblessed at londone ywis & iset in trone [v.r. ine throne]. c 1500 New Notbr. Mayd 464 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 19 Ye syttynge in throne. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xli. 44 With shyning bright shieldis [As] Titan in trone. |
4. fig. A seat or position of dominion or supremacy;
spec. in
Astrol.: see
quot. 1819.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 149 b, This Marques thus gotten vp, into fortunes trone. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 361 The Pulpit a Throne of higher Authority..rewarding with Promises of far more elevating Hopes than any earthly one can. 1819 J. Wilson Compl. Dict. Astrol. s.v., Any part of a sign where a planet has two or more testimonies, i.e. essential dignities, is called its throne, chariot, or any other foolish name that comes to hand. 1855 Brewster Newton II. xiv. 23 [Leibnitz] had nearly placed himself on the throne which Newton was destined to ascend. 18.. B. Taylor In the Meadows Poems (1866) 299 The sun on his midday throne. 1892 Henley Song of Sword, etc. 45 We tracked the winds of the world to the steps of their very thrones. |
5. transf. The position, office, or dignity of a sovereign; sovereign power or authority, dominion.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22122 In þe temple o salamon Þan sal þat traitur sett his tron. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 245 Artarxerses..saued his fader trone and his broþer lyf. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. i. (1883) 20 Mysericorde and trouthe conserue and kepe the kynge in his trone. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1199/2, I will..set my trone on the sides of y⊇ north. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. i. 193 The next degree, is Englands Royall Throne. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., Throne also Synecdochycally is taken for Supream Command, or Soveraign Authority of those that sit upon the Throne. 1750 Gray Elegy 67 To wade through slaughter to a throne. 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 84 Worthy..of occupying the first place in the state beneath the throne. 1849 Helps Friends in C. ii. i. (1854) I. 267 Mighty thrones and distant empires. |
b. throne and altar, the civil and ecclesiastical systems as established;
cf. Church and State (
church n. 18); hence used
attrib.| 1822 Edin. Rev. XXXVII. 420 The poetical representation of the..Throne-and-Altar class. 1885 Pall Mall G. 12 Jan. 4/2 Two currents ran through the auditory. Gentlemen of high life and throne and altar journalists were hostile. Radical journalists..were brimful of sympathy. 1908 Expositor June 558 The guardian of the nation's throne and altar. |
6. transf. Put for the occupant of the throne; the sovereign.
| 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. xlii, ‘Here’, cried he, addressing himself to the throne. 1818 Ld. Althorp in Parl. Deb. 21 A time when they had to offer their condolence to the throne. |
7. (With capital T.)
pl. In mediæval angelology, The third of the nine orders of angels (see
order n. 5).
| 13.. Ipotis 93 (Vern. MS.) in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 342 Þe þridde [order] is cleped Trones. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. x. (1495) b vj/2 The thyrde Ordre [of angels] is the ordre of Thrones, and hath the name of the yefte of dome, for god syttyth in theym, and yeuyth his domes. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xv. ii. (1886) 315 Twentie legions of divels, partlie of the order of vertues, & partlie of the order of thrones. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 601 Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vertues, Powers. a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 201 Thrones, who God's Judgments hear, and then proclaim. c 1850 Neale Hymns East. Ch. (1866) 134 Thrones, Principalities, Virtues, and Powers. |
8. attrib. and
Comb., as
throne adversary,
throne-bearer,
throne-chair,
throne-city,
throne gallery,
throne-power,
throne-rail,
throne-room,
throne-seat,
† throne-sitter,
throne-step;
throne-capable,
throne-like,
throne-shattering,
throne-worthy adjs.;
throne-born a., born of a sovereign parentage; of royal birth;
throne-name, a name given on ascending the throne;
Throne Speech Canad. = Speech from the Throne s.v. speech n.1 8 d.
| 1651 Serm. Coron. Chas. II at Scoon in Phenix I. 266 A word of Encouragement against *Throne Adversaries. Your Enemies are the Enemies of the Lord's Throne. |
| 1855 Bailey Mystic etc., Spir. Leg. 131 Some crowned and sword-girt conqueror *Throne-born. |
| 1851 Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. I. 547 There was only one clearly acknowledged legitimate heir or *throne-capable representative of Charlemagne. |
| 1814 Sir R. Wilson Diary (1861) II. 344 Murat was seated as a Sultan—princes and dukes all standing behind his *throne-chair. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 6 June 1/3 The procession then proceeds to the *throne gallery. |
| 1894 Ibid. 30 June 5/1 Two *thronelike chairs of larger growth stood in the centre. |
| c 1875 Queen's Printers' Bible-Aids 139 The people make Shallum..King, he taking the *throne-name of Jehoahaz. |
| 1864 T. Seaton From Cadet to Colonel xvii. 361 The interior room is the King's *throne-room. 1889 John Bull 2 Mar. 149/2 The Queen..entered the Throne-room shortly after three o'clock. 1941 W. Fortescue Trampled Lilies xxv. 247 Could I bear to walk through the kitchen to reach the only bath and throne-room? |
| 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague 51 Lurid stars Prophetic of *throne-shattering wars. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Trone sytter, or he that sytteth in maiestie, altitronus. |
| 1955 Toronto Daily Star 2 Feb. 6/2 An experimental program for the treatment of drug addicts was announced in this year's *Throne speech at the opening of the British Columbia legislature. 1972 Farm & Country 19 Dec. 1/3 Informants..say they will be ‘very surprised’ if the Throne Speech does not contain new provisions to help farmers transfer their properties to following generations. |
▪ II. throne, v. (
θrəʊn)
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To place on or as on a throne;
esp. as symbolic of accession to sovereignty:
= enthrone.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 131 Þer treuthe is in Trinitee and troneth [A. i. 122 corouneþ; v.r. tronen] hem alle. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. ii. (Skeat) l. 94, I lefte it for no tene, till he was troned in my blisse for his seruice. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 90 Turtils troned on trene. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 400, I sall..with tresone trone the on the treis. 1549 Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 58 Thus was Salomon throned, by the aduise and wyl of hys father. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. Induct., Why, throne your selfe in state on the stage. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 22 The seate Where loue is thron'd. 1624 F. White Repl. Fisher 56 He trode vpon the necke of kings, throning and dethroning, crowning and decrowning them. 1673 Milton True Relig. 10 The Pope..Thrones and Unthrones Kings. 1715–20 Pope Iliad viii. 551 Th' eternal thunderer sat thron'd in gold. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt III. xliii. 154 Mercy can do no harm, it will seat the King where he ought to be, throned on the hearts of his people. 1815 Scott Guy M. xi, Mrs. Mac-Candlish, throned in a comfortable easy chair..was regaling herself..with a cup of genuine tea. 1864 R. S. Hawker Quest Sangraal 16 Foremost sad Lancelot, throned upon his Steed. 1866 Conington Virg. æneid vii. 686 To throne him in the seat of power. 1884 Tennyson Becket i. iii. 70 That the King Would throne me in the great Archbishoprick. |
2. intr. To be enthroned; to sit on or as on a throne; to sit in state. Often
to throne it.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iv. 26 He wants nothing of a God but Eternity, and a Heauen to Throne in. 1848 Blackw. Mag. LXIII. 768 He throned it always like a tragedy king. 1903 Ld. R. Gower Rec. & Remin. 358 After seeing my Shakespeare [group statue] throning it in the centre of the Palais d' Industrie [Paris]. 1904 R. J. Farrer Garden of Asia 139 The abbot of imperial blood no longer thrones among the pines of Uyeno. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 20 Mar. 2/2 The sofa on which she had throned. |
Hence
ˈthroning vbl. n., enthronement.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xvi. 175 The dedicacioun of the chirche, & the thronynge [Roxb. tronyng] of the ydole. |