- the period during which a king, queen, emperor, etc. rules
- By the end of his reign, the vast empire was in decline.
- in/during a reign The house was built during the reign of Henry VIII.
Homophones rain | reign | reinrain reign reinTopics Historyc1/reɪn//reɪn/- rain noun
- Look at that rain! We'll be drenched if it doesn't stop.
- rain verb
- Take an umbrella—it's going to rain.
- reign noun
- The country changed dramatically during her long reign.
- reign verb
- Henry Bolingbroke was soon to reign in England as Henry IV.
- rein noun
- She's been given free rein to spend the money however she wants.
- rein verb
- Steps were taken to rein in expenditure.
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- the period during which somebody is in charge of an organization, a team, etc.
- Sir Alex Ferguson's reign at Manchester United
- The story only came out during the final days of his reign as Chief Executive.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French reignier ‘to reign’, reigne ‘kingdom’, from Latin regnum, related to rex, reg- ‘king’.
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reign