Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Exercise of sovereign power, as by a monarch.
  • noun The period during which a monarch rules.
  • noun Dominance or widespread influence.
  • intransitive verb To exercise sovereign power.
  • intransitive verb To hold the title of monarch, but with limited authority.
  • intransitive verb To be predominant or prevalent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Royal or imperial authority; sovereignty: supreme power; control; sway.
  • noun The time during which a monarch occupies the throne: as, an act passed in the present reign.
  • noun The territory over which a sovereign holds sway; empire; kingdom; dominions; realm.
  • noun Power; influence; sway; dominion.
  • To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; govern, as a king or emperor; hold the supreme power; rule.
  • To prevail; be in force.
  • To have dominion or ascendancy; predominate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; to exercise government, as a king or emperor;; to hold supreme power; to rule.
  • intransitive verb Hence, to be predominant; to prevail.
  • intransitive verb To have superior or uncontrolled dominion; to rule.
  • noun Royal authority; supreme power; sovereignty; rule; dominion.
  • noun obsolete The territory or sphere which is reigned over; kingdom; empire; realm; dominion.
  • noun The time during which a king, queen, or emperor possesses the supreme authority.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The exercise of sovereign power.
  • noun The period during which a monarch rules.
  • verb intransitive To exercise sovereign power, or to rule as a monarch

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb have sovereign power
  • noun royal authority; the dominion of a monarch
  • noun the period during which a monarch is sovereign
  • noun a period during which something or somebody is dominant or powerful
  • verb be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English reigne, from Old French, from Latin rēgnum, from rēx, rēg-, king; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English regnen < Anglo-Norman and Old French regner, from the Latin verb rēgnō, and the noun regnum

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Examples

  • And after she had taken from her breast the drop of water and put it in the vial, she spoke to me these words: 'This is the unction with which the kings of England shall be anointed; _not those who reign now, but those who are to reign_; for those who reign now are wicked, and so will be their successors, and, for their iniquity shall lose many things.

    Béarn and the Pyrenees A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre Louisa Stuart Costello 1834

  • Instead, he assumed his title reign was nothing but a test to see if he had what it took.

    WWE Championship Kevin Sullivan 2010

  • Even his title reign comes from the fact that the person he was feuding with at the time the aforementioned John Cena feud was legit injured and the title had to be moved.

    What Makes a Superhero Comic a Superhero Comic? | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources 2008

  • After her title reign came to a close, Madusa would continue to feud with Oklahoma for a few more weeks.

    Archive 2007-01-01 ~~ Sabre ~~ 2007

  • After her title reign came to a close, Madusa would continue to feud with Oklahoma for a few more weeks.

    Debra Ann Miceli/Madusa Part 4 ~~ Sabre ~~ 2007

  • With so much going on stealing attention away from Undertaker, does his title reign have any chance to be looked at as anything but a transitional reign waiting to be ended by one of the previously mentioned names?

    PWTorch.com 2010

  • During his title reign, he took out Joe Stevenson,

    Yahoo! Sports - Top News Maggie Hendricks 2010

  • And Nigel did take time off after the concussion and also the bicep tear, but he still worked through a lot of other injuries and, at the end of his title reign, was working through two bicep tears, and even though we don't know for sure why WWE pulled back on their contract offer to him, I would be very surprised if the injuries didn't have something to do with it.

    PWInsider Latest Articles Stuart Carapola 2010

  • The challenges for Pavlik since September 2007, or the beginning of his title reign, have come without the Middleweight honors on the line.

    BoxingScene.com 2010

  • If Lyoto Machida performs like he did Saturday, his title reign could be a long one.

    Yahoo! Sports - Top News 2010

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