Realm vs Kingdom
Is there any difference between "Realm" and "Kingdom"?. Effectively I've always seen them with no difference.
In some forums people point to a more metaphorical usage of "Realm" but also "Kingdom of heaven" is quite metaphorical too. I'm looking for any nuance, if exists, more than a description of each word.
Does exist any difference or is just a context difference?
Edited:
Definitions (although again I'm not looking for definition diferences): http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/kingdom
- a country ruled by a king or queen.
- an area that is controlled by a particular person or where a particular quality is important.
- an area of activity.
- one of the groups that natural things can be divided into, depending on their type.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/realm
- an area of interest or activity.
- a country ruled by a king or queen.
As I mentioned, there is not a big difference. Most probably is a difference of "Kingdom" is widely used in this context where "Realm" just sounds strange or the other way around.
Solution 1:
Which came first, the word and its uses or the definition? Dictionaries and their definitions are conscious artifacts created out of words that attempt to capture the meaning of others words. But also there is an attempt to do so in as compact a manner as possible. Sometimes efficiency wins out over exactness (with most words I'd say usually efficiency is favored).
The dictionary definitions of 'realm; and 'kingdom' are surely very similar, but they're usually not interchangeable. You can say 'the kingdom of heaven' but not the other (or rather you could but people would be confused or it would just sound wrong). You can say 'the forest behind my house is my realm' (if you go visit it a lot and you hardly see anyone there ever) but it would be weird for you to say it the other way unless you were five years old and play acting.
In addition to the dictionary definitions, both have metaphorical tendencies, but 'kingdom' is more likely to be used in the literal sense of 'political entity ruled by a person labeled as king'. Metaphorically though 'kingdom' means you are the specific person in charge of an area, like a king or autocratic ruler, and 'realm' leans more towards area of general control.
Also, 'kingdom' is used for the highest, most general classification of living things.
Solution 2:
Kingdom and realm; an interesting question which demonstrates that language does not just operate under mechanical rules - although such are absolutely necessary - but that language is a living thing which grows, develops, adapts and matures. My Oxford Dictionary of English [2nd Ed 2006] gives ‘kingdom’ - a realm associated with, or regarded as being under, the control of a particular person or thing; and ‘realm’ - a kingdom, as in ‘the defence of the realm’.
The GloWbE, Global Web-based English, one of the corpora which catalogue English usage, returns 87,093 results for kingdom and 24,163 for realm which is an indication, at the very least, that both words are well used but one has a preponderance.
Whatever value and weight the generality of persons may, or may not, give to the Authorised Version of the Bible, the so-called King James Version, it is nevertheless a truth that this book had a massive influence over the development of the English language, in several major countries of the world, for a period of almost three hundred years, from 1611 until, decreasingly, 1888 and thereafter.
So it was to that reference book that I went, immediately, to research the question, and since the words ‘kingdom of heaven’ had been already mentioned I checked those in Young’s Analytical Concordance. I will not go into all the details, they are readily available, but one text stood out like a pinnacle which, in its twin peaks, revealed, to me, something that was fundamental to the understanding of the words and their historical use in the English language.
Ezra 7:23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done diligently, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king ?
These are the English words, chosen by Englishmen in 1611, to convey the concept ‘realm’ . The word is maleku, which, in this place is actually a Chaldee word but can be considered as Hebrew. It is usually translated ‘kingdom’, very occasionally ‘realm’ - but here, in particular, the translators chose ‘realm’.
The words are uttered, in 455 BC, in the twentieth year of his reign, by Artaxerxes, the King of Persia - then the king of the whole known world (who would, later, be ousted by Alexander the Great) to Ezra the scribe - and these words clearly show that a king of such an empire, accepted that his place was on earth, and that he was subject to whom he chooses to call ‘The God of heaven’.
And in 1611 the translators, appointed by King James the first (in Scotland we recognise him as the sixth), chose to translate the word maleku by ‘realm’ not ‘kingdom’. It’s only a kingdom if God accepts that it is - and that acceptance, at that time, was in doubt. Yes, there is territory; yes, there are people on it; yes, they have property there. But it’s only a real kingdom if God is above it.
Here we see demonstrated the psychology of human beings over a period of two thousand years; a disposition of mind that had not changed for two millenia, for the King James translators accept the deference of Artaxerxes to the God of heaven and they call his kingdom - a realm.
Compared to the God of heaven, who had established another kind of rule on earth than his, Artaxerxes accepts an inferior place. What he had was a ‘realm’ on earth, over men, temporarily. Yes, in other contexts it was a kingdom, and the translators so translate the Chaldee or Hebrew words. But here - in one small text of scripture - is demonstrated what would take me several pages to argue, otherwise.
The ‘defence of the realm’ is a matter of a nation on earth defending territory from another nation. It is about an area of land upon which persons dwell, hopefully peaceably. Humans dwell there. And livestock. But the psychology which predominated upon the planet for two millenia, at least, saw more than that. It saw much, much more. And the difference between ‘realm’ and ‘kingdom’, I believe, ably demonstrates that fact in Ezra 7:23.
Solution 3:
Realm is a broader term than kingdom.
One way to see the difference is by considering the expression a peer of the realm. A peer is not an equal of the king, but still has existence outside of being a mere vassal.
Or consider the official name of the U.K. House of Lords: The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
Or the House of Commons: The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
At this point in U.K. history, Parliament rules, and the Queen reigns as head of state. It is no longer a kingdom, but a constitutional monarchy. But it still can be referred to as a realm.
In 1653, when Oliver Cromwell styled himself as the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the kingdom disappeared, but the realm did not (and returned to royalist control in 1660 anyway).
Everything that you have ever read in English fiction about realms and kingdoms has ultimately been derived from actual terms of governance in the British Isles, or from translation into English of similar concepts as they appeared in other European states.
Solution 4:
There's a technical difference, politically: a realm is a territory with a monarch who is not called a king or queen. For example, Luxembourg (or The Grand Duchy Of Luxembourg) is ruled by a Grand Duke, and so is referred to as a realm rather than a kingdom. So, "realm" can be used to describe countries/territories which are "like a kingdom but don't have a king".
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realm
EDIT: Somewhat confusingly, given the above definition, "realm" can also be used to describe a kingdom, ignoring the above technical distinction. Thus a resident of the United Kingdom could talk about "The defence of the realm", meaning the kingdom.
"Realm" can also be used interchangeably with "area" when talking about knowledge - for example, you might say "This is getting into the realm of mathematics, so I'll leave it to my more technical colleagues". You'd never talk about "The kingdom of mathematics" in this way (because, again, there's no king).
Solution 5:
Realm is simply a royal domain, which might be a Kingdom, a Principality, or even a Duchy, though the term is not usually used for a royal manor.
Regel, rehel, real [pronounced as in Real Madrid], and rail are all medieval English variants the Latin-rooted regal. Compare Rail or Real-tennis.