Gustavus VI

9.2

King of Sweden from 1950 to 1973 who had real power in government

proper noun

: Gustavo VI

Gustavus VI was the last king of Sweden to wield substantial political power during his reign.

Examples

King Gustavus VI ruled Sweden from 1950.
During the reign of Gustavus VI, Sweden underwent significant constitutional changes.
Gustavus VI was widely respected for his scholarly interests and passion for archaeology.
Many Swedes remember Gustavus VI as a humble monarch devoted to public service.
Did Gustavus VI have any significant political influence?
As king, Gustavus VI played a crucial role in modernizing Sweden's constitutional monarchy.
Many historians consider Gustavus VI to be an important figure in Sweden's transition to democracy.

Surface Forms

Gustavus VI main

Morphology

Gustavus + VI

The compound is fully compositional: 'Gustavus' is a proper name associated with royalty and 'VI' is the numeral six used as a regnal ordinal, so a learner who knows both can infer 'Gustavus the Sixth' (i.e., a monarch). Regnal names with numerals are cross-linguistically common, making the referential meaning directly derivable from the constituents for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Gustavus VI comes from a Latin form of the Swedish name Gustav plus the number VI, which shows he was the sixth king with that name, so the name means 'Gustav the Sixth'. He was the King of Sweden from 1950 to 1973 and was the last monarch with real political power.