BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-rule

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historical dictionarymw-rule

Rule — 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 ↗

3CANONICAL EDGES

1WITNESSES

1COMPARISONS

0CONTEXT LINKS

1RANKED REVEALS

2DISPUTES

3JOURNEY STAGES

2WORD DOSSIERS

CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS

RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

RANK 105GRADE Asupports

A rule was a straightedge.

Latin rēgula named a straightedge or ruler as well as a principle. English authority and procedure descend through that concrete measuring branch.

*h₃reg̑-

*h₃reg̑- → *h₃reg- → *rēg-olā- → rēgula → reule → reule → rule

Etymology: Latin regula, straightedge and rule

Publishes the physical and abstract meanings.

rule dossier ↗truth record ↗86UNVEILING

SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT

DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

resolvedsupportsestablished

Was rule always only an abstract command?

No. Latin rēgula meant a straightedge or ruler as well as a rule, and the physical measuring sense survives in English.

Etymology: Latin regula, straightedge and rule

Directly publishes the physical and abstract meanings.

rule dossier ↗dispute record ↗

resolvedcontextestablished

Does rule descend directly from English right?

No. They are deep cousins: rule comes through French and Latin rēgula, while right follows Germanic *rehtaz.

Etymology cross-reference to right

Signals the deeper relation without direct English descent.

rule dossier ↗dispute record ↗

CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS

EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE

EDGE 724supportsestablished

rule → reule

Present-Day English → Middle English · continuation

SOUND: Modern rule continues Middle English reule through English spelling and pronunciation history.
MEANING: A guide for action expands across standards, authority, procedures, and measurement.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Definitions, Word History, and First Known Use

Supplies Middle English reule, the semantic range, and thirteenth-century horizon.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

EDGE 725supportsestablished

reule → reule

Middle English → Anglo-French · borrowing

SOUND: Middle English reule was borrowed from Anglo-French reule.
MEANING: The guide or standard sense crosses into English.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Etymology: Middle English reule from Anglo-French

Supplies the French-to-English borrowing.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

EDGE 726supportsestablished

reule → rēgula

Anglo-French → Latin · borrowing

SOUND: Anglo-French reule continues Latin rēgula through Romance sound and spelling history.
MEANING: A straightedge or ruler also supplies an abstract guide or principle.
SCHOLAR / EDITOR: Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors

Etymology: Latin regula, straightedge and rule

Supplies the Latin source and physical-to-abstract range.

OPEN THE PERMANENT CLAIM ↗

LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS