regulate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin regulatus, past participle of regulare (“to direct, rule, regulate”), from regula (“rule”), from regere (“to keep straight, direct, govern, rule”). Compare regle, rail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡjəleɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

regulate (third-person singular simple present regulates, present participle regulating, simple past and past participle regulated)

1. To dictate policy.
2. To control or direct according to rule, principle, or law.
   • Macaulay

     the laws which regulate the successions of the seasons

   • Bancroft

     The herdsmen near the frontier adjudicated their own disputes, and regulated their own police.

3. To adjust to a particular specification or requirement: regulate temperature.
4. To adjust (a mechanism) for accurate and proper functioning.

   to regulate a watch, i.e. adjust its rate of running so that it will keep approximately standard time

   to regulate the temperature of a room, the pressure of steam, the speed of a machine, etc.

5. To put or maintain in order.

   to regulate the disordered state of a nation or its finances

   to regulate one's eating habits

Derived terms

• deregulate
• downregulate
• upregulate

Related terms

• rule
• ruler
• regular
• regulation
• regulator

Translations

control — see control

adjust

• Arabic: ضَبَطَ‎ (ar) (ḍabaṭa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 調節 (zh) (guǎnzhì), 调节 (zh) (tiáojié)

• Czech: regulovat
• Dutch: regelen (nl)
• Finnish: säätää (fi)
• French: régler (fr)
• German: regeln (de), regulieren (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κανονίζω (kanonízō)

• Hungarian: irányít (hu), szabályoz (hu)

• Italian: regolare (it)
• Japanese: 調節する (ja) (ちょうせつする, chōsetsu suru)
• Korean: 규정하다 (ko) (gyujeong-hada)
• Portuguese: regular (pt)
• Romanian: regula (ro)
• Russian: регули́ровать (ru) impf (regulírovatʹ), отрегули́ровать (ru) pf (otregulírovatʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: regulowaś impf, regulěrowaś impf

• Spanish: regular (es)
• Swedish: reglera (sv)

Further reading

• regulate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• regulate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• legature

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Latin

Verb

rēgulāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of rēgulō