king-killern.
/ˈkɪŋkɪlə/, U.S. /ˈkɪŋˌkɪlər/ A person who kills a king. Also (now chiefly) in extended use: a person who brings down someone in authority. Cf. regicide n.1
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the world > life > death > killing > killer for specific reason or type of person > [noun] > of king
regicide1548
king-killer1581
1581 A. Neville tr. Seneca Œdipus (rev. ed.) ii. i, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 82 The Thebane City neuer shal be free from plagues..Except from thense the Kingkiller [1563 Kyng queller; L. regis caede nocens] forthwith expulsed bee.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 384 O thou sweete King-killer, and deare diuorce Twixt naturall Sunne and fire [perh. read sire].
1681 Heraclitus Ridens 12 July 2/1 They'l give you leave to roast them at Temple-Bar with their Brother King-killer the Pope.
1726 D. Defoe Polit. Hist. Devil ii. vii. 286 No less than a King-Killer and an Assassinator.
1790 R. Heber Let. 12 Nov. in Heber Lett. (1950) ii. 60 Rank Republicans and King-Killers.
1828 W. Hazlitt in London Weekly Rev. 14 June 372/3 Our heroic dictator of dialogues is an amiable incendiary, a courtly king-killer, a loftly leveller.
1859 Boston Investigator 12 Oct. The people now are not only king-makers, but king-killers.
1901 Successful Amer. Nov. 643/1 It may be somewhat interesting to learn how some King-killers in the Old World were dealt with.
1971 Times 12 June 14 A call for a Conservative king-killer to down Edward Heath.
2015 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 Oct. a30 It was impossible not to feel a sense of relief..after months dominated by the Republican circus of haters, ranters and that very special group of king killers in Congress.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1581