กินเมือง

Etymology

From กิน (gin, literally “to eat, to consume”) +‎ เมือง (mʉʉang, “polity, as city, town, state, nation, etc”), probably a calque of Mon စဍုၚ် (“to govern a polity”, literally “to eat a polity”).^[1]

Pronunciation

Verb

กินเมือง • (gin-mʉʉang) (abstract noun การกินเมือง)

1. (idiomatic and historical) to rule or govern a polity.

Usage notes

• Prince Damrong Rajanubhab explained the concept of eating a polity in the old system of administration, saying that a person appointed to eat a polity was entitled to govern the polity and directly derive benefits from it as his compensation, such as in the form of labour, food, crops, taxes, etc, because no salaries were provided by the central government to local governors.^[2]

References