Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Reign

Reign (rān), n. [OE. regne, OF. reigne, regne, F. règne, fr. L. regnum, fr. rex, regis, a king, fr. regere to guide, rule. See Regal, Regimen.] 1. Royal authority; supreme power; sovereignty; rule; dominion.

He who like a father held his reign. Pope.

Saturn's sons received the threefold reign Of heaven, of ocean, and deep hell beneath. Prior.

2. The territory or sphere which is reigned over; kingdom; empire; realm; dominion. [Obs.] Spenser.

[God] him bereft the regne that he had. Chaucer.

3. The time during which a king, queen, or emperor possesses the supreme authority; as, it happened in the reign of Elizabeth.

Reign (r?n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Reigned (r?nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Reigning.] [OE. regnen, reinen, OF. regner, F. régner, fr. L. regnare, fr. regnum. See Reign, n.] 1. To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; to exercise government, as a king or emperor;; to hold supreme power; to rule. Chaucer.

We will not have this man to reign over us. Luke xix. 14.

Shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom? Shak.

2. Hence, to be predominant; to prevail. "Pestilent diseases which commonly reign in summer." Bacon.

3. To have superior or uncontrolled dominion; to rule.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Rom. vi. 12.

Syn. — To rule; govern; direct; control; prevail.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.