king of beasts
- noun
:
rey de las bestias
- The lion is often called the king of beasts due to its majestic appearance.
Examples
-
In many cultures, the lion is revered as the king of beasts for its strength and nobility.
-
"The king of beasts."
-
At the zoo, the king of beasts attracted a crowd with its powerful roar.
Synonyms
389
1.0
A large wild cat with a tawny coat and a shaggy mane on males
A large wild cat that lives in Africa and India, known as the lion
How Majestic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'king' (foremost/powerful) + 'of' (genitive) + 'beasts' (animals) yields 'the most powerful/majestic among animals.' This 'X of Y' pattern meaning 'the top/most important in Y' is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer it.
Etymology
King of beasts comes from old stories and pictures where people saw the lion as the leader of beasts. Its big mane looked like a king's crown and its strong roar showed power, so the phrase means 'the most majestic animal'.