Reigns

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹeɪnz/

Definitions

1. Exercises supreme authority as a king or queen ; holds power or influence over others
2. Acts as a sovereign leader governing a nation ; maintains dominance or control in a situation
3. Serves as the reigning monarch of a territory ; exerts command or prevails in status or condition

Etymology: The verb "reigns" is simply the third-person singular form of "reign", so the story belongs to the base word. Its ancestry runs back to the Latin noun "rēgnum", meaning "kingdom" or "rule", which was built on "rēx", "king". Those Latin words share a root with "rēctus", "straight" or "right", the same idea behind "regal" and "rector", so a king was, at root, the one who keeps things on a straight course. The English verb came through Old French "reignier", from the Latin verb "rēgnō", "to rule". It arrived in Middle English as "regnen", and it was the French-influenced form that took over. The native Old English words "rīċe" and "ricsian", meaning "a reign" and "to reign", were pushed aside by this newcomer, so the English language's own word for ruling had to give way to a borrowing.

Synonyms: rules, governs, dominates

Antonyms: serves, submits