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realm

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 11 September 2008
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English rewme, realme, reaume, from Old French reaume, realme, reialme (“kingdom”), of unclear origins. A postulated *rēgālimen (“domain, kingdom”), Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cross of regimen with rēgālis is usually cited.

The modern spelling predominates from around 1600. The modern pronunciation with /l/ is either a spelling pronunciation or influenced by the etymology. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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realm (plural realms)

  1. (now law and rhetoric) A territory or state, as ruled by an absolute authority, especially by a king; a kingdom. [from ca. 1300]
    • 1874, Horatio Alger, “Chapter XXXI”, in Brave and Bold:
      And, of this island realm, he and his companion were the undisputed sovereigns.
    • 1913, Leslie Alexander Toke, Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Dunstan",
      Then seeing his life was threatened he fled the realm and crossed over to Flanders, […]
    1. (fantasy, roleplaying games) An otherworldly dimension or domain — magical, ethereal, or otherwise — usually ruled or created by a mystical character.
    2. (obsolete) The spiritual state of which God is the head; the Kingdom of Heaven.
  2. (also figurative) A sphere of knowledge or of influence; a domain. [from after 1400]
    the realm of physics
    the realm of corporate governance
    • 1907, Tada Kanai, “The World and How to Pass Through It”, in Arthur Lloyd, transl., Seven Buddhist Sermons:
      Why should we despise anything in the realm of Buddha?
    • 1922, Judson Eber Conant, “Truth Must be Classified Scientifically”, in The Church The Schools and Evolution:
      One thing more which the scientific man does is to accord primacy to that realm of truth which is primary in importance.
    • 2006 November 22, Christian Neef, “Diary of a Collapsing Superpower”, in Spiegel Magazine:
      At home in Moscow, Mikhail Sergeyevitch Gorbachev, who had launched a campaign to rejuvenate the Soviet realm  […]
    • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly‎[2], volume 188, number 23, page 19:
      In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]  The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra-wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
  3. (biology, ecology) A primary zoogeographical division of the earth's surface. [from 1850s]
  4. (virology, taxonomy) A taxonomic rank in the phylogeny of viruses, higher than kingdoms.
  5. (archaic) A region or zone forming part of a cosmological system. [from 1560s]

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  1. ^ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎[1], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 475.

Anagrams

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