reigns

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of reign.

   The current monarch reigns with the consent of parliament.

   Calm reigns in the household once the children fall asleep.

   Note

   The -s form carries every use of the verb, from the literal to the figurative. A monarch reigns, and by extension so do calm, silence or chaos when they dominate a place, and so does a champion until the next contest is decided. Use it without a direct object: a queen reigns over a country. The transitive pattern, reigns a country, is rare and nonstandard.

   Silence reigns in the library after closing time.

   The defending champion reigns until next year's final.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of reign.

   The reigns of the Tudor monarchs reshaped England.

   Successive reigns brought sweeping changes to the legal system.

   Note

   A plural that usually counts time. Of the three things reign can mean (the exercise of power, the span a monarch rules, and the realm ruled), the span is the one that most naturally comes in multiples. That is why the plural appears in phrases like successive reigns or the reigns of a dynasty, where periods are set in sequence or weighed against one another.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2