rule

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“
Because of the important policy purpose served by the continuous ownership rule, the rule is a bedrock tenet of Delaware law and is adhered to closely.

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Definitions (182)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (23)

  1. noun Governing power or its possession or use; authority.
  2. noun The duration of such power.
  3. noun An authoritative, prescribed direction for conduct, especially one of the regulations governing procedure in a legislative body or a regulation observed by the players in a game, sport, or contest.
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Examples (50)

  • Under favorable climatic conditions the natural enemies of the louse as a rule are able to hold it in check. —  An Elementary Study of Insects
  • Language as a rule is a very unerring philosopher, and words shaped and polished by long usage generally express, more truly than those who use them realise, the essential reality of things. —  Essays Towards a Theory of Knowledge
  • Ten minutes as a rule was ample for this island casting, but as, on this occasion, there was no other sign than that I have mentioned, I could not but spare a few extra minutes to my friend who had falsely made overtures to the Bulldog; the least to be done was another trial with a fly of a different pattern. —  Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler
  • Though the fur trapper as a rule is a most gentle creature, the "quality of mercy is not strained" in furring CHAPTER XIV THE CHILDREN'S HOME What's that schooner bound South at this time of year for?"
  • But the rule is applied to these as well as to other offices and employments. —  The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

law ·  method ·  authority ·  measure ·  problem ·  language

Used in the same contextWord Family

rule:   ruling ·  ruled ·  rules
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English reule, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *regula, from Latin rēgula, rod, principle; see reg- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English rule, reule, rewle, ruell, riule, riwle (as in Ancren Riwle, ‘Anchoresses’ Rule'), from Old French reule, rieule, riule, reigle, riegle. French dial. (Norman) ruile, French règle = Provencal Spanish regla = Portuguese regra = Italian regola = Anglo-Saxon regol. regul, a rule, = Dutch regel = Middle Low German reggele, regule = Old High German regula, monastic rule, Middle High German regele, regel, German regel = Icelandic regla, regula = Swedish Danish regel, rule, from Latin regula (Middle Latin also regula), a rule, etc., from regere, keep straight, direct, govern, rule: see regent. See rail, a bar, etc., and regle, doublets of rule.
  2. from Middle English rulen, reulen, rewlen, riwlen, from Old French ruiler, rieuler, rieler, reguler, reigler, regler, French régler = Provencal reglar = Spanish reglar, regular = Portuguese regrar, regular = Italian regolare = Dutch regelen = German regeln = Danish regulere = Swedish reglera, from Late Latin regulare, regulate, rule, from Latin regula, a rule: see rule, n., and cf. rail, v., and regulate.
  3. A contracted form of revel; perhaps in part associated with rule in misrule (“lord of misrule,” etc.): see revel.
  4. Also reul; a contr. of revel. Cf. rule, n.
 

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