rule
Pluralrules
Pluralrules
- 1A regulation, law, or guideline that sets out what is allowed or required.
The committee added a rule requiring every member to register in advance.
Safety rules on the factory floor are strictly enforced.
UsageCommon verbs: follow, obey, break and bend the rules; a rule against smoking.
Similarregulation, law, guideline, directive, requirement
- 2To govern or be in charge of a country, people, or place, making decisions for them.
Emperors once ruled vast territories that stretched across three continents.
The old king had no heir, so no one knew who would rule after him.
UsageRule a country or rule over a people; the noun pattern is under someone's rule.
Similargovern, control, lead, command, administer
- 3To make and state an official decision, especially as a judge or court on a legal matter.
The justices ruled unanimously on the disputed contract.
A good judge must rule without favor or bias.
UsageCommon frames: rule that + clause, rule on a case, rule against or in favor of someone.
Similarhold
Note
The Guardian reported in 2013 that the US Supreme Court "ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented." Hold is the near-synonym and takes the same that-clause in legal reporting.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The Guardian published the report in 2013. theguardian.com
- The report uses the quoted wording about the US Supreme Court's unanimous gene-patenting decision. theguardian.com
- 4A principle or set method that describes how something works or how a task should be carried out.
Supply and demand is a basic rule of economics.
Engineers rely on the rule that heat flows naturally from warmer objects to cooler ones.
UsageSet phrase: a rule of thumb, a rough practical guide.
- 5The exercise of authority over a country or people; government, administration, or control.
The empire expanded steadily under his rule.
Colonial rule reshaped the region's borders and economy.
UsageCommon patterns include under his rule, under colonial rule, and the rule of law.
Similarreign, government, control, authority, dominion
Note
Here the word names power being exercised rather than any single regulation, and it takes no plural. The King James Bible of 1611 speaks of "them that have the rule over you", an older way of saying hold authority over. Pope's Odyssey of 1725 shows the possessive pattern that is still current, "his stern rule", where an adjective passes judgment on the ruler.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
- The King James Bible contains the quoted phrase, in Hebrews 13:17. en.wikisource.org
- The volume of Pope's Odyssey containing this quotation was first published in 1725. en.wiktionary.org
- Pope's Odyssey contains the exact phrase 'his stern rule', describing oppressive authority. en.wikisource.org
- 6The usual or normal state of affairs; what typically happens rather than the exception.
Delays during the holiday season are the rule rather than the exception.
In that newsroom, late nights were the rule for everyone.
UsageSet phrases: as a rule (usually) and the rule rather than the exception.
Similarnorm
Oppositeexception
Note
With a possessive it turns personal. My rule is to rise at six describes a routine someone sets for themselves, not a law.
- 7Said of an emotion, instinct or force: to govern or heavily sway how someone acts or lives, or how events unfold.
On days like this, fear and greed rule the stock market.
For years after the divorce, jealousy ruled his every decision.
UsageOften passive: ruled by fear, a life ruled by ambition.
Similargovern, dominate, control, drive
Note
Strong emotions and appetites are the usual subjects (fear, greed, jealousy, passion), and the idiom let your heart rule your head sets feeling against judgment. The phrasing tends to imply that the person has lost some control.
- 8
- 9A court order regulating legal procedure, or one made between the parties to a lawsuit.
Note
Courtroom practice gives the word a procedural edge. Such a rule is an order that steers how a case proceeds, or settles a point between the parties, rather than a final judgment on the merits. Counsel seek a rule, and a court enters one. The judge's act of deciding belongs to the verb of judicial decision.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- A rule can be a court order regulating procedure or made between parties to litigation. en.wiktionary.org
- The note describes an incidental or interlocutory order, distinguished from a final judgment on the merits. upload.wikimedia.org
Less common meanings
- 10To mark paper or a similar surface with straight lines, especially as guides for writing.
The clerk ruled each ledger sheet into neat columns.
Printers would rule the sheets carefully before binding them.
UsageBest known in the participle: ruled paper, a ruled notebook.
Similarline
Note
Here the verb produces a drawn line: to rule a page is to lay those guiding lines across it. It is transitive and takes the surface as its object. Its past participle gives the familiar description of paper already marked out for writing or for columns of figures.
- 11A straight continuous line, such as one drawn across a sheet as a guide for writing.
The accountant added a rule beneath the final figure.
A thin rule separated the heading from the text below.
Similarline
- 12A straightedge or measuring device used for drawing straight lines and measuring length.
She checked the length twice with a folding rule before cutting the board.
A boxwood rule from the old workshop still measured accurately after decades.
UsageOften in carpenter's rule or steel rule; in everyday talk ruler is more usual.
Similarruler, straightedge
Note
This is the object the whole word grew from, as Latin regula shows. It belongs to the trades. Robert South's judicious artist "will trust only to his Rule", and Aristotle's Rhetoric, in W. Rhys Roberts's translation, warns against warping a carpenter's rule before using it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Rule ultimately derives from Latin regula, which denotes a straight stick or ruler. en.wiktionary.org
- Robert South describes a judicious artist who “will trust only to his Rule”. en.wiktionary.org
- Aristotle's Rhetoric, translated by W. Rhys Roberts, compares perverting a judge to warping a carpenter's rule before using it. classics.mit.edu
- 13To establish or settle something by a rule, or to fix it by general consent or common practice.
That's a ruled case with the school-men.
1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the ReformationSimilarsettle, determine, fix, regulate, establish
Note
The idea here is settlement by consensus rather than command. In 1687 Francis Atterbury wrote of "a ruled case with the school-men", meaning a question the scholastics treated as closed. The past participle once worked as an adjective for anything decided by general agreement or long practice. Unlike the judicial verb, this meaning needs no court.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Francis Atterbury's relevant work was published in 1687. searcharchives.bl.uk
- Atterbury used the quoted wording, with 'ruled' modifying 'case' to mean settled. en.wiktionary.org
- The historical sense includes settlement by agreement or common practice, supporting the adjectival explanation and requiring no court. en.wiktionary.org
- 14A thin plate of brass or other metal, the same height as the type, used to print lines such as those between columns or in tables.
The compositor slid a rule into the form to separate the headings.
The compositor trimmed a length of brass rule and set it between the columns of type.
Note
Letterpress usually printed its lines from metal. The printer cut type-high strips of brass to length and set them in the form between columns or around the cells of a table. The usage is dated and tied to hand composition. When the printed result rather than the metal is meant, the word for it is the drawn line.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Letterpress also used wooden rules, particularly for posters and broadsides. paekakarikipress.com
- Brass rules were supplied at type height; the compositor cut them to the required length. gutenberg.org
- Brass printing rules needed to match the height of the type. gutenberg.org
- Brass rules were set with type to print dividing lines in columns and tables. gutenberg.org
- 15A person's conduct or general manner of behaving.
This uncivil rule; she shall know of it.
c. 1601, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”Note
Shakespeare could call bad behavior "this uncivil rule" in Twelfth Night, and older drama and prose is where this meaning lives now, usually with an adjective judging the conduct. It has fallen out of use. A modern reader who meets this use in an old text should think of behavior, not government. In new writing, conduct or behavior says it without confusion.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Shakespeare's Twelfth Night contains 'this uncivil rule'; the speaker is Malvolio, in Act 2, scene 3. folger.edu
- The quotation refers to bad behavior. shakespeare-navigators.ewu.edu
- 16To take part in revelry; to celebrate boisterously.
Note
The verb partner of the old word for revelry shares its link to revel and has no tie to governing. It took no object, so people simply ruled in the sense of carousing. Now obsolete, it is mainly a trap for readers of old texts, where a crowd that "ruled" may have been celebrating rather than in charge.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The revelry noun and the corresponding verb share an etymological connection with revel, distinct from governing. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb meaning to revel was intransitive. en.wiktionary.org
- Ruled is a past form of the verb meaning to revel, so it can describe celebrating. en.wiktionary.org
- 17Boisterous merrymaking; revelry.
Note
A different word happens to share the spelling. This one is related to revel, not to the Latin regula behind the governing senses. The meaning is obsolete and survives only in older writing. A modern reader will not take rule to mean revelry, so write revelry.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Rule meaning revelry is a separate homonym related to revel, rather than to the Latin regula underlying the governing senses. en.wiktionary.org
- The revelry sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
More uses
- rule outto decide that something is not possible
Practice
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Origins
Latin regō ("to keep straight, direct, govern, rule"), which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to straighten," gave regula ("straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern"). This became Old French riule, and Middle English borrowed it as reule. Rail, regal, regula, and rigol are doublets.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Latin regō means ‘to keep straight, direct, govern, rule’. en.wiktionary.org
- Regō ultimately derives from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning ‘to straighten’. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin regula derives from regō and means ‘straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern’. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French riule derives from Latin regula. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English borrowed the Old French word as reule. en.wiktionary.org
- Rail, regal, regula, and rigol are doublets of rule. en.wiktionary.org
Latin regula ("a rule") gave regulāre ("to regulate, rule"), which became Old French riuler and was borrowed into Middle English as reulen. Regular and regulate are related.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Latin regula meant “a rule” and gave regulāre, meaning “to regulate, rule”. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin regulāre developed into Old French riuler. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English borrowed Old French riuler as reulen. en.wiktionary.org
- Regular and regulate are etymologically related to rule. en.wiktionary.org
The old revelry senses are related to revel and have no link to the rule that comes from Latin regula.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Rule had obsolete senses meaning revelry and to revel. en.wiktionary.org
- Those senses are related to revel. en.wiktionary.org
- The revelry senses have a different origin from Latin-regula rule; this follows from the separately documented etymologies. en.wiktionary.org