Regulation

How to spell regulation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce regulation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does regulation mean?

1. nounAn official rule or directive that controls how something is done.
2. nounThe act or process of controlling or keeping something at the correct level.

Regulation in a sentence

• The new safety regulation requires hard hats on every site.

• Proper temperature regulation keeps the vaccines viable during transport.

• The company was fined for breaching a financial regulation.

• The body relies on careful blood sugar regulation throughout the day.

Where does regulation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin regula, meaning a 'straight stick', 'ruler', or by extension 'rule' or 'pattern', which was built on the verb regere, 'to lead straight' or 'to govern'. From regula the Late Latin verb regulare, 'to control by rule', developed, and its noun form regulatio described the act of controlling. English took the word in around the seventeenth century, at first for the act of adjusting something to a standard, and later for the official rules themselves. The same regere root gives us a whole family of governing words, including 'regular', 'regime', 'rule', and even 'right' (something kept straight). Remembering that the heart of the word is the simple regula, 'rule', helps fix the spelling: it is regul- plus the ordinary -ation ending, with no hidden surprises.

How the word is built

• regul- (from regula: rule, straight stick)
• -ation (noun of action/result)