Rule

How to spell rule

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce rule

What does rule mean?

1. nounAn established principle or regulation governing conduct, procedure, or play.
2. verbTo exercise authority or control over a country, people, or situation.
3. verbTo draw a straight line, usually with a ruler or straightedge.

Rule in a sentence

• noun

  The new office rule bans phones in meetings.

• verb

  A single party can rule the country for decades.

• verb

  Please rule a margin down the left side of the page.

• noun

  Every player must learn the basic rule before the match.

• verb

  Fear should never rule your financial decisions.

• verb

  She will rule a neat line under the final total.

Where does rule come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word arrived in English in the 1100s through Old French 'reule' or 'riule', which descended from the Latin 'regula', meaning a straight stick, a bar, or a measuring rod used to keep things straight. That noun came in turn from 'regere', the Latin verb 'to lead straight' or 'to direct', the same root that gives us 'regent', 'regular', and 'rectangle'. The idea travelled naturally from a physical straightedge to the abstract sense of a standard or pattern that keeps behaviour 'straight', and from there to a binding regulation. The verb sense, meaning to govern or hold authority, grew from the same notion of directing and keeping in line. The spelling is mercifully simple, but the silent shaping of the vowel (the 'u-e' giving a long 'oo') is the only thing to watch.

How the word is built

• rule (from Latin regula: a straight stick, ruler, pattern)