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historical dictionarymw-regular

Regular — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use

AUTHOR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors
YEAR: 2026
PUBLISHER: Merriam-Webster
DOI: Not recorded
SOURCE TYPE: historical dictionary
EXTERNAL RECORD: OPEN ORIGINAL ↗

4CANONICAL EDGES

1WITNESSES

3COMPARISONS

0CONTEXT LINKS

1RANKED REVEALS

2DISPUTES

3JOURNEY STAGES

3WORD DOSSIERS

CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS

RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

RANK 155GRADE Acontext

Regular is measured order.

Late Latin rēgulāris grows from rēgula, the straight bar or rule. Ordinary, scheduled, and normal are later abstractions from conformity to a rule.

*h₃reg̑-

*h₃reg̑- → *h₃reg- → *rēg-olā- → rēgula → rēgulāris → reguler → reguler → regular

Definitions and Word History

Documents later order, interval, and standard senses.

regular dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING

SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT

DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

resolvedcontextestablished

Did regular originally mean statistically normal?

No. The reported medieval sense centers on living under or according to a rule; ordinary and standard are later extensions.

Definitions and First Known Use

Documents later orderly, standard, and recurring senses.

regular dossier ↗dispute record ↗

resolvedsupportsestablished

Is regular unrelated to a physical ruler?

No. Its Late Latin adjective descends from rēgula, whose older semantic range includes a bar, rod, or straightedge.

Etymology: regularis from regula, of a bar and rule

Publishes the physical base.

regular dossier ↗dispute record ↗

CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS

EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

EDGE 731supportsestablished

regular → reguler

Present-Day English → Middle English · continuation

SOUND: Modern regular continues Middle English reguler through English spelling and sound history.
MEANING: Living by a rule expands to orderly, patterned, recurring, standard, and normal.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Definitions, Word History, and First Known Use

Supplies Middle English reguler, modern senses, and fourteenth-century horizon.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

EDGE 732supportsestablished

reguler → reguler

Middle English → Anglo-French · borrowing

SOUND: Middle English reguler was borrowed through Anglo-French reguler.
MEANING: The rule-governed adjective crosses into English.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Etymology: Middle English reguler from Anglo-French

Supplies the borrowing route.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

EDGE 733supportsestablished

reguler → rēgulāris

Anglo-French → Late Latin · borrowing

SOUND: Anglo-French reguler continues Late Latin rēgulāris through Romance transmission.
MEANING: According to a rule remains the central inherited relation.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Etymology: Anglo-French from Late Latin regularis

Supplies the Romance and Late Latin stages.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

EDGE 734supportsestablished

rēgulāris → rēgula

Late Latin → Latin · derivation

SOUND: Late Latin rēgulāris is an adjective formed from Latin rēgula.
MEANING: Of a bar or according to rule develops orderly and regular senses.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Etymology: Late Latin regularis from Latin regula

Publishes the adjective formation.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS