REIGN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Reign

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/reɪn/ Listen

noun

Reign n.

Royal authority; supreme power; sovereignty; rule; dominion. "He who like a father held his reign." "Saturn's sons received the threefold reign Of heaven, of ocean, and deep hell beneath."

The territory or sphere which is reigned over; kingdom; empire; realm; dominion. (Obs.) "(God) him bereft the regne that he had."

The time during which a king, queen, or emperor possesses the supreme authority; as, it happened in the reign of Elizabeth.

verb

Reign v. i. (past & past part. reigned; pres. part. reigning)

To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; to exercise government, as a king or emperor;; to hold supreme power; to rule. "We will not have this man to reign over us." "Shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom?"

Hence, to be predominant; to prevail. "Pestilent diseases which commonly reign in summer."

To have superior or uncontrolled dominion; to rule. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body."

Synonyms: To rule; govern; direct; control; prevail.

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Etymology of 'Reign'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Reign" Quotes from Famous Books

... begin at the beginning and discuss theories. I see that the men who killed each other about the orthodoxy of the Homoousion were far more sensible than the people who are quarrelling about the Education Act. For the Christian dogmatists were trying to establish a reign of holiness, and trying to get defined, first of all, what was really holy. But our modern educationists are trying to bring about a religious liberty without attempting to settle what is religion or what is liberty. If the old ...

— Heretics • Gilbert K. Chesterton

... music of their brass bells, are seen leaving the cellars with their load of the succulent wine. No longer is the air filled with that odour which is so well known to those whose lives are spent amidst the casks in which the wine is maturing. Instead, peace and quiet reign. Sacrificing their time to the interests of charity, the ...

— The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon • Jose Maria Gordon

... successful life and reign was delivered in Princess Heinrich's most conclusive manner. I had no thought of disputing it; I was almost surprised that the facts themselves did not suffer an immediate transformation to match the ...

— The King's Mirror • Anthony Hope

... reign of Charles II, did not arrogate to itself the right to retire behind trees from the long line of the single village street; but being taller than the other houses it brought the street to a dignified conclusion, and it was not unworthy of the noble church which stood ...

— The Altar Steps • Compton MacKenzie

... ominously, almost savagely, behind the curtain of ice which had concealed almost the whole of it during winter. The ice on the edge of the Saint Lawrence had already given way, and was being swept out to sea in variously-sized fields and masses. Everything gave indication that the reign of winter had come to an end, that the short-lived spring had laid its warm hand on the whole region, and that summer was not far distant. Summer acts its part ...

— Wrecked but not Ruined • R.M. Ballantyne

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