ruler

English

A ruler (measuring device).

Etymology

From Middle English reuler; equivalent to rule +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• audio (US)

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːlə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹulɚ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːlə(ɹ)

Noun

ruler (plural rulers)

1. A (usually rigid), flat, rectangular measuring or drawing device with graduations in units of measurement; a straightedge with markings.
2. A person who rules or governs; someone or something that exercises dominion or controlling power over others.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 122:

     The carcharhinids are unquestionably the rulers of the seas, because of their abundance, their strength and speed, and their unchallenged position as the number one predators in the marine ecosystem.

Usage notes

In American English, the word "ruler" is often used specifically to refer to such a measuring device that is one foot (12 inches) long. Used in contrast with "yardstick" and "meter stick."

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:ruler
• (measuring instrument): rule

Hyponyms

• See Thesaurus:ruler

Translations

measuring or drawing device

• Afrikaans: liniaal (af), liniale (af) pl
• Albanian: vizore (sq) f
• Arabic: مِسْطَرَة‎ f (misṭara)
• Armenian: քանոն (hy) (kʿanon)
• Asturian: regla (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: xətkeş (az), xətçəkən
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: ліне́йка f (linjéjka)
• Bengali: মাপনী (mapnī)
• Bulgarian: лини́йка f (liníjka)
• Burmese: မျည်းတံ (myany:tam)
• Catalan: regle (ca) m
• Central Dusun: tutuku
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 直尺 (zh) (zhíchǐ), 尺子 (zh) (chǐzi)

• Czech: pravítko (cs) n
• Danish: lineal
• Dutch: meetlat (nl), liniaal (nl)
• Esperanto: liniilo
• Estonian: joonlaud
• Finnish: viivain (fi), viivoitin (fi)
• French: règle (fr) f, latte (fr) f
• Galician: regra (gl) f
• Georgian: სახაზავი (saxazavi)
• German: Lineal (de) n
• Greek: χάρακας (el) m (chárakas)

  Ancient: κανών m (kanṓn)

• Hebrew: סַרְגֵל‎ (he) m (sar'gél)
• Hindi: पैमाना (hi) (paimānā)
• Hungarian: vonalzó (hu)
• Icelandic: reglustika f
• Ido: linealo (io)
• Indonesian: penggaris (id), mistar (id)
• Irish: rialóir m
• Italian: righello (it) m
• Japanese: 定規 (ja) (じょうぎ, jōgi), 物差し (ものさし, monosashi), ルーラー (rūrā)
• Kalmyk: кимзә (kimzä)
• Kazakh: сызғыш (kk) (sızğış)
• Khmer: បន្ទាត់ (km) (bɑntŏət)
• Korean: 자 (ko) (ja)
• Kyrgyz: сызгыч (ky) (sızgıç)
• Lao: ໄມ້ບັນທັດ (lo) (mai ban that)

• Latgalian: linejals m
• Latin: rēgula f
• Latvian: lineāls (lv) m
• Lithuanian: liniuotė f
• Lü: ᦺᦙᧉᦶᦑᧅ (may²taek)
• Macedonian: ли́нијар m (línijar)
• Malay: pembaris
• Maltese: riga f
• Manchu: ᡱᡳ (cy)
• Mongolian: шугам (mn) (šugam)
• Navajo: bee ídaʼneelʼąąhí
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: relle f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: linjal (no) m

  Nynorsk: linjal m

• Old English: regol m, regolsticca m
• Pashto: ختکه‎ f (xatáka), خط کښ‎ m (xat káӽ)
• Persian: خط‌کش‎ (xatkeš), خط کش‎ (fa) (xat keš)
• Polish: linijka (pl) f
• Portuguese: régua (pt) f
• Romanian: riglă (ro) f, linie (ro) f
• Russian: лине́йка (ru) f (linéjka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: цртало n, равнало n

  Roman: crtalo (sh) n, ravnalo (sh) n

• Slovak: pravítko n
• Slovene: ravnilo (sl) n
• Spanish: regla (es) f
• Swahili: masharti (sw)
• Swedish: linjal (sv) c
• Tagalog: galod
• Tajik: хат (tg) (xat), хаткашак (xatkašak)
• Tatar: сызгыч (tt) (sızgıç), җәдвәл (cädwäl)
• Thai: ไม้บรรทัด (th) (mái-ban-tát)
• Tigrinya: መስመር (mäsmär)
• Turkish: cetvel (tr)
• Turkmen: lineýka
• Ukrainian: ліні́йка f (liníjka)
• Uzbek: lineyka (uz), chizgʻich (uz)
• Vietnamese: thước kẻ (vi), thước (vi)
• Welsh: please add this translation if you can

person who rules or governs

• Afrikaans: heerser
• Albanian: sundimtar (sq) m
• Arabic: حَاكِم‎ m (ḥākim)

  Egyptian Arabic: حاكم‎ m (ḥakem)

• Armenian: տիրակալ (hy) (tirakal)
• Azerbaijani: bəy (az)
• Bashkir: батша (batša), хаким (xakim)
• Bengali: শাসক (śasôk)
• Burmese: အုပ်ချုပ်သောသူ (uphkyupsau:su)
• Catalan: líder (ca) m, governant (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 統治者 (zh), 统治者 (zh) (tǒngzhìzhě)

• Czech: vládce (cs) m
• Danish: hersker (da)
• Dutch: heerser (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ḥqꜣ)
• Esperanto: regnestro
• Estonian: riigivalitseja
• Finnish: hallitsija (fi)
• French: dirigeant (fr) m, chef (fr) m
• Georgian: მმართველი (mmartveli)
• German: Herrscher (de) m
• Greek: κυβερνήτης (el) m (kyvernítis)

  Ancient: ἄρχων m (árkhōn), ἡγεμών m (hēgemṓn), ἀρχός m (arkhós)

• Haitian Creole: chèf
• Hebrew: מַנְהִיג‎ (he) m (manhíg), שַׁלִּיט‎ m (shálit)
• Hindi: शासक (hi) m (śāsak)
• Hungarian: uralkodó (hu)
• Indonesian: penguasa (id)
• Irish: rialtóir m

• Italian: sovrano (it) m
• Japanese: 支配者 (しはいしゃ, shihaisha), 知事 (ちじ, chiji), 統治者 (とうちしゃ, tōchisha)
• Korean: 통치자 (ko) (tongchija)
• Latgalian: vaļdinīks m
• Latin: tyrannus m
• Latvian: valdnieks m
• Lithuanian: valdovas m
• Malay: pemerintah
• Mongolian: захирагч (mn) (zahiragč)
• Nahuatl: tecutli
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hersker (no) m, makthaver (no) m

  Nynorsk: herskar m, makthavar m

• Old Prussian: rikīs m
• Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎ (qaɣan)
• Persian: حاکم‎ (fa) (hâkem), حکمران‎ (fa) (hokmrân)
• Polish: władca (pl) m
• Portuguese: governante (pt) m
• Romanian: guvernant (ro) m, domnitor (ro) m
• Russian: государь (ru) m (gosudarʹ)
• Sanskrit: अधिप (sa) m (adhipa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вла̀да̄р m

  Roman: vlàdār (sh) m

• Spanish: gobernante (es)
• Swedish: härskare (sv) c, ledare (sv) c
• Tagalog: naghahari
• Tajik: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: అధికారి (te) (adhikāri)
• Turkish: hükümdar (tr)
• Ukrainian: прави́тель (uk) m (pravýtelʹ)

a female person who rules or governs

• Afrikaans: heersers
• Danish: herskerinde c
• Dutch: heerseres (nl) f
• Hungarian: uralkodónő
• Latgalian: vaļdineica f
• Latvian: valdniece f
• Lithuanian: valdovė f

• Polish: władczyni (pl) f
• Russian: государыня (ru) f (gosudarynja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вођа f

  Roman: vođa (sh) f

• Swedish: härskarinna (sv) c
• Ukrainian: прави́телька (uk) f (pravýtelʹka)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} sundimtar (sq) m
• Azerbaijani: ^{(please verify)} hökmdar (az), ^{(please verify)} xətkeş (az)
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} joonlaud
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} pembaris
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ರೂಲರ್ (rūlar)
• Lao: ^{(please verify)} ໄມ້ບັນທັດ (lo) (mai ban that)
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} penguasa

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} upravljač (sh)
• Tagalog: ^{(please verify)} reglador, ^{(please verify)} dinasta
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} ஆட்சியாளர் (āṭciyāḷar)
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} ліні́йка f (liníjka)
• Uzbek: ^{(please verify)} hokim (uz), ^{(please verify)} idora qiluvchi, ^{(please verify)} chizgʻich (uz)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} cây thước, ^{(please verify)} cái thước kẻ
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} ווירע‎ f (vire)

Verb

ruler (third-person singular simple present rulers, present participle rulering, simple past and past participle rulered)

1. (transitive) To beat with a ruler (as a traditional school punishment).

Further reading

• ruler in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ruler in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• ruler on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• lurer

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English ruler, from Middle English reuler.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ru‧ler

Noun

ruler

1. a ruler