Word.ws English Dictionary

nomen regens

nomen regens noun: the first of the two nouns in status constructus, which occurs in a phonetically abbreviated state. For example, in Hebrew, the word "queen" standing alone is malka מלכה. When the word is possessed, as in "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"), it becomes malkat šəba מלכת שבא, in which malkat is the construct state (possessed) form and malka is the absolute (unpossessed) form. Thus, the possessed noun in the construct state (Queen) is the nomen regens (governing noun), and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case (Sheba's), is the nomen rectum (governed noun).

Noun

nomen regens

  1. The first of the two nouns in status constructus, which occurs in a phonetically abbreviated state. For example, in Hebrew, the word "queen" standing alone is malka מלכה. When the word is possessed, as in "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"), it becomes malkat šəba מלכת שבא, in which malkat is the construct state (possessed) form and malka is the absolute (unpossessed) form. Thus, the possessed noun in the construct state (Queen) is the nomen regens (governing noun), and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case (Sheba's), is the nomen rectum (governed noun).

Origin of nomen regens

From Latin nōmen regēns (“governing noun”).

Questions about nomen regens

What does nomen regens mean?
Nomen regens means the first of the two nouns in status constructus, which occurs in a phonetically abbreviated state. For example, in Hebrew, the word "queen" standing alone is malka מלכה. When the word is possessed, as in "Queen of Sheba" (literally "Sheba's Queen"), it becomes malkat šəba מלכת שבא, in which malkat is the construct state (possessed) form and malka is the absolute (unpossessed) form. Thus, the possessed noun in the construct state (Queen) is the nomen regens (governing noun), and the possessor noun, often in the genitive case (Sheba's), is the nomen rectum (governed noun).
What part of speech is nomen regens?
Nomen regens is a noun.

Words near nomen regens in the dictionary

  1. nomen opificis
  2. nomen patientis
  3. nomen periculosum
  4. nomen protectum
  5. nomen rectum
  6. nomen regens
  7. nomen relativum
  8. nomen sacrum
  9. nomen translatum
  10. nomen unitatis
  11. nomen vasis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nomen regens (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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