1. trans. To seat on a throne; esp. to set (a king, bishop, etc.) on a throne as a formal induction to office; to invest with regal or episcopal authority.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., III. vi. 5. Cleopatra and himselfe in Chaires of Gold Were publikely enthron’d.
1651. Baxter, Inf. Bapt. (1653), 14. A King is … King … incompletely, till he be solemny Crowned and inthroned.
1726. Ayliffe, Parergon, 63. For this Pope … was no sooner elected and enthron’d in France … but that he [etc.].
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 135. He was not crowned and anointed in Westminster Abbey, but was solemnly enthroned.
1876. Green, Short Hist., iii. 119. [The] Bishop of Norwich was elected by the monks of Canterbury at his bidding and enthroned as Primate.
fig. a. 1628. Sir J. Beaumont, Epiph., in Farr, S. P. Jas. I. (1848), 143. There pride, enthroned in misty errours, dwels.
1727. Thomson, Summer, 400. One [maid], chief, in gracious dignity inthron’d Shines o’er the rest.
1748. Warton, Enthusiast, in Coll. Poems (ed. 2), III. 106 (R.). Where Happiness and Quiet sit enthron’d.
1844. Stanley, Arnold (1858), II. 148. To enthrone the very mystery of falsehood and iniquity.
1868. Miss Braddon, Dead-sea Fruit, II. ix. 211. If she seem an angel to you, enthrone her in your heart of hearts.
2. To set as on a throne; to place in a high position, exalt.
1699. Addison, Imit. Milton, 42. By every God that sits enthroned on high.
1856. Stanley, Sinai & Pal., iii. (1858), 171. Enthroned … on a mountain fastness.
a. 1859. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., V. 300. In every parish from Mile End to Saint James’s was to be seen enthroned on the shoulders of stout Protestant porters a pope.
Hence † Enthronation, Obs., in 7 inthronation, the action of enthroning. Enthroned ppl. a., in 8 inthroned.
1611. Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., X. i. § 10. The antique Regall Chaire of Inthronation.
a. 1711. Ken, Div. Love, Wks. (1838), 247. Glory be to thee, O Love inthroned!
