reign
Americannoun
-
the period during which a sovereign occupies the throne.
-
royal rule or authority; sovereignty.
- Synonyms:
- suzerainty, dominion
-
dominating power or influence.
the reign of law.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
the period during which a monarch is the official ruler of a country
-
a period during which a person or thing is dominant, influential, or powerful
the reign of violence is over
verb
-
to exercise the power and authority of a sovereign
-
to be accorded the rank and title of a sovereign without having ruling authority, as in a constitutional monarchy
-
to predominate; prevail
a land where darkness reigns
-
(usually present participle) to be the most recent winner of a competition, contest, etc
the reigning heavyweight champion
Usage
Reign is sometimes wrongly written for rein in certain phrases: he gave full rein (not reign ) to his feelings; it will be necessary to rein in (not reign in ) public spending
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reignsimple
-
reignssimple
-
have reignedperfect
-
has reignedperfect
-
are reigningprogressive
-
am reigningprogressive
-
is reigningprogressive
-
have been reigningperfect progressive
-
has been reigningperfect progressive
Past
-
reignedsimple
-
had reignedperfect
-
was reigningprogressive
-
were reigningprogressive
-
had been reigningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reign
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English noun reine, regne, from Old French reigne, from Latin regnum “realm, reign,” derivative of reg- (stem of rēx ) “king”; Middle English verb reinen, regnen, from Old French reignier, from Latin regnāre, derivative of regnum
Explanation
Rain falls from above, and people who reign rule from a position above others. They reign over countries and governments, and even over businesses and arts, as in "She used to reign over punk music, always topping the charts." While reign is a verb when it refers to the actions of a person or group of people, the period of time when they reign is also called a reign, as a noun: "His reign over the rodeo circuit ended when he was tackled by a bull named Princess-Maker." Sometimes a stretch of time is called a reign, even without regard to who was the leader, as in a "reign of peace," or a period of time without war and conflict, in a place or government.
Vocabulary lists containing reign
ASVAB Word Knowledge
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Stargirl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Net sales in the Monster Energy Drinks segment, which includes the Monster, Reign, and Bang energy drink brands, grew 19% to $1.99 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
The victory was doubly sweet for the 30-year-old Lavelle, who was a member of the Seattle Reign team beaten by Gotham in the 2023 final two seasons ago.
From Barron's • Nov. 23, 2025
They’re currently hitting smaller home haunts across the city, but Silva says, if you go to just one this season, make it Reign of Terror.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
Following the friendly between Wales and the United States of America in July 2023, Fishlock embraced USA icon and Seattle Reign team-mate Megan Rapinoe - who is also openly gay.
From BBC • Oct. 15, 2025
Yet the devilry is in the details, and as I delved deeper, I discovered that the money in dispute was connected to another victim of the Reign of Terror, George Bigheart.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
