Meaning & use
reign
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The time during which a king, queen, or emperor rules a country.
Grammar: Usually singular with the: during the reign of Queen Victoria; plural reigns is possible when comparing rulers.
Patterns
- the reign of someone
- during someone's reign
The cathedral was built during the reign of Henry the Third.
Her reign lasted more than seventy years.
Peace marked the early part of the emperor's reign.
nouncountablefigurative
A period when a person, group, or force is the strongest or most influential in a field or situation.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often with of or an adjective: a reign of terror, the champion's long reign.
Patterns
- reign of something
- end someone's reign
The team's reign as champions ended after eight straight titles.
The revolution brought a reign of terror to the capital.
Her reign at the top of the charts lasted twelve weeks.
verbintransitive
To rule as king, queen, or emperor for a period of time.
Grammar: No object; often followed by over or for a length of time: she reigned for forty years.
Patterns
- reign over something
- reign for a period
Queen Elizabeth the Second reigned for seventy years.
He reigned over a small, peaceful kingdom.
The dynasty reigned from the tenth century until the thirteenth.
verbintransitiveliterary
To be the main, strongest, or most noticeable feature of a situation or a place.
Grammar: No object; the subject is usually a feeling or condition: silence reigned.
Patterns
- reign supreme
- reign over something
Silence reigned in the library during the exam.
Chaos reigned when the power went out.
The defending champion still reigns supreme in the sport.
Word forms
| plural | reigns |
|---|---|
| third person singular | reigns |
| past tense | reigned |
| past participle | reigned |
| -ing form | reigning |
Common combinations
- reign supreme
- Rice reigns supreme in this region's cooking.
- long reign
- The king's long reign brought stability.
- reign of terror
- The dictator's reign of terror lasted a decade.
- reign over
- She reigned over the kingdom for thirty years.
- reigning champion
- The reigning champion defended her title on Saturday.
- end of someone's reign
- The coup marked the end of his reign.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rule
- Rule is the general word for holding power and can apply to any leader, while reign normally refers to a monarch.
- dominate
- Dominate suggests control by strength and does not require any official title the way reign does.
- prevail
- Prevail means to be the stronger or most common of competing things, whereas reign supreme adds a flavor of total dominance.
- tenure
- Tenure is the period someone holds a job or office, usually a modern one, while reign sounds royal or dramatic.
Opposites
Word family
- reigning adjective
- currently holding the top title or position
- regnal adjective
- relating to a monarch's reign, as in regnal year
- interregnum noun
- a gap between two reigns or governments
- reigned verb
- the past tense, as in he reigned for ten years
Commonly confused: reign or rein? reign or rain?
reign vs rein
Rein is a strap used to guide a horse, and appears in free rein and rein in; reign is about ruling, so a ruler does not hold the reins of a reign.
reign vs rain
Rain is water falling from clouds; it sounds identical to reign and rein but has an entirely different meaning.
Practice
The queen's ___ lasted forty years and saw the country grow wealthy.
Choose one answer.
Reign is the noun for a monarch's period of rule. Rein, rain, and reins sound similar or identical but mean a horse strap, falling water, and several straps, so none fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reign”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.