Wiktionary

kingmaker

English

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WOTD – 22 November 2021

Etymology

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An illustration of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, in the Founders and Benefactors Book of Tewkesbury Abbey (c. 1525). Kingmaker was originally an epithet given to Warwick for his role in deposing and appointing Henry VI and Edward IV.

From king +‎ maker, originally used in the 16th century in “Warwick the Kingmaker”, an epithet of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (1428–1471), a key figure in the Wars of the Roses whose actions led to King Henry VI being deposed in 1461 and Edward IV appointed in his place, then Edward IV being replaced by Henry VI again in 1470.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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kingmaker (plural kingmakers)

  1. (politics) Someone who has strong influence over the choice of a leader.
    Coordinate term: queenmaker
    • 2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “French election: Marine Le Pen voters grapple with their role as kingmakers”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 January 2021:
      Alain, who is proud of choosing the extreme right but still didn't want his real name printed, is one of the 6.4 million [Marine] Le Pen voters who are now the kingmakers in deciding who becomes the next president of France. If the Socialist François Hollande topped the poll, beating the rightwing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and gaining momentum for returning the left to the presidency for the first time in a generation, it is Le Pen whose high showing and third place now holds the election in the balance.
    • 2023 October 14, Antoinette Radford & Graeme Baker, “New Zealand election: National party's Chris Luxon claims victory”, in BBC:
      However, a National-Act coalition would only have a slim majority, meaning Mr Luxon may need to secure the support of NZ First, whose leader Winston Peters has been kingmaker in previous Labour and National-led coalitions.
  2. (by extension, game theory) A player who is unable to win but powerful enough to decide which of the other viable players will eventually win.

Usage notes

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  • In sense 1, the word is mostly used for people with powerful influence in choosing a candidate for public representation.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “kingmaker, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “kingmaker, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Note 3