Word.ws English Dictionary

ancien régime

UK[ɑ̃siæ̃ ʁeʒim]US/ɑn.sjɛn ɹeɪˈʒim/

ancien régime noun: a system of government that has been supplanted by another, particularly a state of feudalism with an absolute monarchy supported by the doctrine of divine right with the explicit consent of an established church.

Noun

ancien régime (plural anciens régimes)

  1. (derogatory) A system of government that has been supplanted by another, particularly a state of feudalism with an absolute monarchy supported by the doctrine of divine right with the explicit consent of an established church.
    Synonyms:
    old regime

Proper noun capitalized: Ancien Régime

the Ancien Régime

  1. (historical) The aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, overthrown by the French Revolution of 1789.
  2. (broadly, historical) Any other political system overthrown in the wake of the French Revolution.
    • the Ancien Régime of Switzerland (1648–1798)

ancien régime meaning in Vietnamese

ancien régime in Vietnamese

system of government long since supplanted by another
chế độ cũ

Synonyms of ancien régime

Forms of ancien régime

pluralanciens régimes

Origin of ancien régime

From French ancien régime (“former rule, former order”); the term first appeared in English print in 1794.

Borrowed from French Ancien Régime, from ancien (“former”) + régime (“rule, order”). The word first appeared in English in print in 1794.

Questions about ancien régime

What does ancien régime mean?
Ancien régime means a system of government that has been supplanted by another, particularly a state of feudalism with an absolute monarchy supported by the doctrine of divine right with the explicit consent of an established church.
What is ancien régime in Vietnamese?
Ancien régime in Vietnamese is chế độ cũ. See Ancien régime meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is ancien régime?
Ancien régime can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce ancien régime?
Ancien régime is pronounced [ɑ̃siæ̃ ʁeʒim] (UK).
What is the plural of ancien régime?
The plural of ancien régime is anciens régimes.

Words near ancien régime in the dictionary

  1. anchylosis
  2. anchylostomiasis
  3. anchylotic
  4. Anché
  5. Anci
  6. ancien régime
  7. ancience
  8. anciency
  9. anciens régimes
  10. ancient
  11. ancient alien

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ancien régime (page history and authors); Ancien Régime (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “ancien régime.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ancien_r%C3%A9gime. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.