A king or ruler who reigns or rules before another; a predecessor or earlier monarch.
From fore- (before) + king. A compound meaning a king who ruled in an earlier period.
This term appears in old chronicles and genealogies to refer to ancient kings whose exact dates nobody could verify—'the foreking of the Britons' sounded more scholarly than 'some old king.'
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.