Old English cyningdom; see king + -dom. Cognate with Old Saxon kuningdom, Middle Dutch koninghdom, Old Norse konungdomr. The usual Old English word was cynedom; Middle English also had kingrick (for second element, see Reichstag). Meaning "one of the realms of nature" is from 1690s. Kingdom-come "the next world" (1785) is from the Lord's Prayer.