ruler

[roo-ler]

noun

1. a person who rules or governs; sovereign.

2. Also a strip of wood, metal, or other material having a straight edge and usually marked off in inches or centimeters, used for drawing lines, measuring, etc.

3. a person or thing that rules paper, wood, etc.

4. Astrology.,  the planet primarily associated with any sign of the zodiac or any house of the horoscope.

   The ruler of Aries is Mars. The ruler of Taurus is Venus.

ruler

/ ˈruːlə /

noun

1. a person who rules or commands

2. Also called: rule. a strip of wood, metal, or other material, having straight edges graduated usually in millimetres or inches, used for measuring and drawing straight lines

Other Word Forms

• subruler noun
• underruler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ruler¹

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; rule, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Despotic regimes have their own way of holding rulers accountable.

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The celebrations required that one student, selected randomly, bake a cake in honor of the nation’s authoritarian ruler — a task requiring time and resources prohibitive to much of the population.

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Not only was it weakened by the last war with Israel, it also lost its supply route through Syria with the fall of former ruler and ally Bashar al-Assad in December.

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A once-strong ruler weakens, her supporters turn against her, and a dramatic change in leadership follows.

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Since seizing power as the kingdom’s de facto ruler in 2017, Mohammed has singularly pursued the goal of transforming the kingdom from a cultural and geopolitical backwater into a force on the world stage.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• czar 
• emperor 
• king 
• monarch 
• shah 
• sultan