Meaning
A person who uses behind-the-scenes influence to decide who gains power, especially in politics, without seeking the top job personally: a party boss, donor or fixer whose endorsement or control of votes makes or breaks candidates. Extended to sport and business for figures who decide which team, coach or product prevails. Implies power without office - the jab 'kingmaker, never king' captures the type. Neutral to faintly cynical; kingmaking names the activity, and queenmaker appears occasionally for women in the role. Regional use: British English in origin (Wars of the Roses); now universal English.
Origin
The word was coined for Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (1428-1471), the Wars of the Roses magnate instrumental in the rise of one king and the deposition of two: he helped crown Edward IV in 1461 and restored Henry VI in 1470. The epithet is posthumous. Wikipedia's account notes John Mair first applied it in 1521, in Latin (regum creator), and that Samuel Daniel first used the English word - the OED's earliest evidence is Daniel in 1595, while Wikipedia's notes say 1609, a disagreement perhaps reflecting different editions of his verse history. David Hume popularized the term in the eighteenth century. Etymonline concurs on the origin: '1590s, originally in reference to Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick (d. 1471), credited with elevating Edward IV and after restoring Henry VI.' The sense now covers party politics, sport and business (Wiktionary).
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- kingmaking
- queenmaker
Usage Examples
- After weeks of deadlocked talks, the regional chairman emerged as the kingmaker, and every leadership candidate came knocking at his door.
- She never stood for leader herself, but as the union's chief fixer she was the kingmaker in three consecutive contests.
- With neither bloc close to a majority, the small centrist party once again held the kingmaker's seat.