rule
UK/ɹuːl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ɹʉwl/
rule noun: a regulation, law, guideline.
Noun (1)
rule (countable and uncountable, plural rules)
- A regulation, law, guideline.
- All participants must adhere to the rules.
- You have to follow the rules to enter the qualifiers for the football tournament.
- A regulating principle.
- There's little can be said in 't; 'Tis against the rule of nature.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.
- Obey them that have the rule over you.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 13:17
- His stern rule the groaning land obeyed.1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC
- A normal condition or state of affairs.
- My rule is to rise at six o'clock.
- As a rule, our senior editors are serious-minded.
- Conduct; behaviour.
- This uncivil rule; she shall know of it.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
- A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
- a rule for extracting the cube root
- A ruler; device for measuring, a straightedge, a measure.
- As we may observe in the Works of Art, a Judicious Artist will indeed use his Eye, but he will trust only to his Rule.a. 1716, Robert South, Sermons
- It is not right to pervert the judge by moving him to anger or envy or pity—one might as well warp a carpenter's rule before using it.1981, Aristotle, “Rhetoric, the Counterpart of Dialectic”, in W. Rhys Roberts, Ingram Bywater, transl., Rhetoric and On Poetics, Pennsylvania: The Franklin Library, →OL
- A straight line (continuous mark, as made by a pen or the like), especially one lying across a paper as a guide for writing.
- A thin plate of brass or other metal, of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work.
Verb (1)
rule (third-person singular simple present rules, present participle ruling, simple past and past participle ruled)
- To regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over.
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- r.
- To excel.
- This game rules!
- To decide judicially.
- The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10
- Synonyms:
- hold
- To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice.
- That's a ruled case with the school-men.1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater, →OCLC
- To mark (paper or the like) with rules (lines).
Noun (2)
rule
Verb (2)
rule (third-person singular simple present rules, present participle ruling, simple past and past participle ruled)
- To revel.
Proper noun capitalized: Rule
Rule (countable and uncountable, plural Rules)
- A surname.
- An unincorporated community in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States.
- A town in Haskell County, Texas, United States.
rule meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
rule in Hindi
- regulation
- राज rāj, दस्तूर dastūr, नियम niyam, क़ानून qānūn, क़ायदा qāydā, कानून kānūn
- the act of ruling; control
- शासन śāsan
- to regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over
- शासन करना śāsan karnā
rule in Tamil
- to regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over
- ஆள் āḷ
rule in Marathi
- rule, law
- नियम niyam
- rule, regulation
- कायदा kāydā
- rule
- अटकळ aṭkaḷ, रीत rīt
- rule, reign
- राज्य rājya
rule in Urdu
- regulation
- قَاعِدَہ qā'ida, دَسْتُور dastūr, قانُون qānūn
More languagesFewer languages
- rule in Bengali
- নিয়ম niẏom, শাসন śaśon, শাসন করা śaśon kora
- rule in Telugu
- నియమం niyamaṁ, పాలించు pāliñcu, ఏలు ēlu
- rule in Malayalam
- നിയമം niyamaṁ, ഭരണം bharaṇaṁ, നിയന്ത്രണം niyantraṇaṁ, ഭരിയ്ക്കുക bhariykkuka
- rule in Kannada
- ನಿಯಮ niyama, ಆಳು āḷu, ವಿಧಿ vidhi
- rule in Punjabi
- راج rāj, ਰਾਜ rājă, ਕਾਇਦਾ kāidā, ਨਿਯਮ niyam
- rule in Gujarati
- નિયમ niyam, કાનૂન kānūn, કાયદો kāyado
- rule in Odia
- ନିୟମ niyama
- rule in Sanskrit
- नियम niyama, राष्टि rāṣṭi
- rule in Pashto
- قاعده qā'edá, قانون qānún
- rule in Tagalog
- panuto, tuntunin
- rule in Arabic
- قَانُون qānūn, قَاعِدَة qāʕida, دُسْتُور dustūr, حُكْم ḥukm
- rule in Malay
- aturan, peraturan
- rule in Thai
- กฎ gòt, นิติ ní-dtì, กติกา gà-dtì-gaa, ระเบียบ rá-bìiap
- rule in Vietnamese
- quy tắc, quy luật, quy định, thể lệ
- rule in Myanmar
- စည်းကမ်း cany:kam:, နိယာမ ni.yama.
- Sindhi
- قاعدو qāʻdo, ڪار kār
Examples of rule in a sentence
- We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives.a. 1694, John Tillotson, Of The Obligations of Christians to a Holy Life:
- He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Synonyms of rule
Antonyms
Forms of rule
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rules |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | rules |
| present participle | ruling |
| past participle | ruled |
| past | ruled |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | rulest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | ruledst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | ruleth |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Rules |
Origin of rule
From Middle English reule, rewle, rule, borrowed from Old French riule, reule, from Latin regula (“straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern”), from regō (“to keep straight, direct, govern, rule”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent. Doublet of rail, regal, regula, and rigol.
From Middle English reulen, rulen, borrowed from Old French riuler, from Latin regulāre (“to regulate, rule”), from regula (“a rule”); see regular and regulate.
Related to revel.
Words formed from rule
- 180-degree rule
- 20-80 rule
- 3-3-3 rule
- 3.5% rule
- 3-revert rule
- 45-degree rule
- 4-to-1 rule
- 50/30/20 rule
- 50-30-20 rule
- 5-5-5 rule
- 6-2-1 rule
- 621 rule
- 68-95-99.7 rule
- 7-38-55 rule
- 7-7-7 rule
- 80-20 rule
- 8x8 rule
- Abegg's rule
- above the neck rule
- adverse interest rule
- Allen's rule
- Amish bus driver rule
- Ampère's rule
- area rule
- as a rule
- as-if rule
- at-rule
- away goals rule
- baseball rule
- batter rule
- Bayes' rule
- Bergmann's rule
- best evidence rule
- blood rule
- board rule
- Born rule
- Born's rule
- boukólos rule
- bright-line rule
- Buckley rule
- Buckley's rule
- business rule
- Byrd rule
- cab-rank rule
- cardinal rule
- Carnot's rule
- chain rule
- Chatham House rule
- Chvorinov's rule
- colonial rule
- composing rule
- Cope's rule
- cosine rule
- Cramer's rule
- Cromwell's rule
- crumbling skull rule
- cube rule
- direct rule
- divide and rule
- doomsday rule
Phrases with rule
135 more phrasesFewer phrases
- mob rule
- pie rule
- Rule 110
- Rule 184
- rule off
- rule out
- rule set
- home rule
- neck rule
- Rome Rule
- rule book
- rule nisi
- rule sets
- sine rule
- work rule
- frame rule
- Gougu rule
- house rule
- mercy rule
- octet rule
- phase rule
- plumb rule
- rule books
- rule joint
- rule of 72
- slide rule
- space rule
- Vegas rule
- Durham rule
- golden rule
- ground rule
- Hebb's rule
- island rule
- Jordan rule
- postal rule
- Rent's rule
- rule joints
- rule of law
- rule of man
- rule of two
- silver rule
- slayer rule
- Emery's rule
- Hastert rule
- Kasha's rule
- lesbian rule
- literal rule
- mailbox rule
- Miranda rule
- offside rule
- product rule
- rule breaker
- rule of cool
- rule of coss
- rule of five
- rule of four
- rule the day
- setting rule
- work to rule
- 30-30-30 rule
- eggshell rule
- Foster's rule
- Gloger's rule
- Horner's rule
- jointing rule
- Jordan's rule
- majority rule
- mischief rule
- off-side rule
- one-drop rule
- personal rule
- platinum rule
- Ponsonby Rule
- rule follower
- rule of Colel
- rule of order
- rule of three
- standing rule
- unspoken rule
- works to rule
- 3 episode rule
- 3-episode rule
- Dühring's rule
- empirical rule
- fireman's rule
- flat tire rule
- formation rule
- Goldwater rule
- Haldane's rule
- inference rule
- Johnson's rule
- Las Vegas rule
- M'Naghten rule
- plurality rule
- rule followers
- rule of lenity
- rule of reason
- rule of sevens
- rule of thirds
- rule of threes
- rule the roast
- rule the roost
- selection rule
- Simpson's rule
- trapezium rule
- trapezoid rule
- Trouton's rule
- two-pizza rule
- under the rule
- unwritten rule
- worked to rule
- Zaitsev's rule
- fifty-move rule
- home rule class
- Meeussen's rule
- nasciturus rule
- precedence rule
- Rapoport's rule
- right-hand rule
- rule the school
- Saytseff's rule
- ten-second rule
- thin skull rule
- Thornton's rule
- touch-move rule
- two second rule
- two-person rule
- two-second rule
- white coat rule
- working to rule
- five-second rule
- grandmother rule
- infield fly rule
- L'Hôpital's Rule
- prudent man rule
Words that rhyme with rule
42 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- spool
- doole
- pule
- yule
- buhl
- huemul
- Juul
- misrule
- poule
- rocking stool
- you'll
- 6-2-1 rule
- adverse interest rule
- aemule
- babul
- befool
- bool
- cagoule
- crool
- emule
- firefighter's rule
- gigajoule
- grool
- gule
- hool
- hydrocool
- joule
- kewl
- kilojoule
- megajoule
- mewl
- pasta fazool
- petajoule
- retool
- shul
- snool
- sool
- terajoule
- torchecul
- tulle
- uncool
- yottajoule
Questions about rule
- What does rule mean?
- Rule means a regulation, law, guideline.
- What is rule in Hindi?
- Rule in Hindi is राज (rāj), दस्तूर (dastūr), नियम (niyam). See Rule meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use rule in a sentence?
- We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives.
- What part of speech is rule?
- Rule can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce rule?
- Rule is pronounced /ɹuːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rule?
- The plural of rule is rules.
Words near rule in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rule (page history and authors); Rule (page history and authors); अटकळ (Marathi) (page history and authors); ಆಳು (Kannada) (page history and authors); راج (Punjabi) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rule.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-rule.wav.
Cite this entry: “rule.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rule. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.