Reino

[irmamar]

Is there any difference between realm and kingdom?

Thanks.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Is there any difference between realm and kingdom?

Yes I think so, in that realm is a wider concept and includes kingdom. Realm is generally any sphere, domain, or province of some quality. So you can have the realm of politics, the realm of philosophy etc. A kingdom is specifically the realm of a king, even though it is sometimes also used metaphorically, such as the kingdom of heaven.

Others may disagree with this.

[Awaken]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes I think so, in that realm is a wider concept and includes kingdom. Realm is generally any sphere, domain, or province of some quality. So you can have the realm of politics, the realm of philosophy etc. A kingdom is specifically the realm of a king, even though it is sometimes also used metaphorically, such as the kingdom of heaven.

Others may disagree with this.

I think this is a good explanation.

At least for Christianity, it is called the "kingdom of heaven" because there is a king of that realm (God in this case).

You can see "the realm of England" and "the kingdom of England" both used to mean the same thing. However, as Perikles said, you usually see the "realm of thought" or "the realm of dreams" when talking about non-physical domains. Even though "kingdom of thought" is technically correct in English, I rarely hear kingdom used that way.

[irmamar]

OK, I understand. But I guess that when talking about kings, both realm and kingdom are the same, aren't they?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

OK, I understand. But I guess that when talking about kings, both realm and kingdom are the same, aren't they?

Yes

[Awaken]

King Philip's realm/kingdom grew to cover all of Europe.

In that type of sentence, they are the same.