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/
• 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; a person who exercises dominion or controlling power over others.

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 pl
• Albanian: vizore (sq) f
• Arabic: مِسْطَرَة‎‎ f (misṭara)
• Armenian: քանոն (hy) (kʿanon)
• Asturian: regla (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: xətkeş (az)
• Belarusian: ліне́йка f (linjéjka)
• Bengali: মাপনী (mapni)
• 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
• French: règle (fr) f, latte (fr) f
• Galician: regra (gl) f
• Georgian: სახაზავი (saxazavi)
• German: Lineal (de) n
• Greek: χάρακας (el) m (chárakas)

  Ancient Greek: 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 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
• Norman: relle f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: linjal (no) m

  Nynorsk: linjal 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 (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)

person who rules or governs

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

  Egyptian Arabic: حاكم‎‎ m (ḥakem)

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

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

• Czech: vládce (cs) m
• 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)
• 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, vaļdineica f
• Latin: tyrannus m
• Latvian: valdnieks m, valdniece f
• Lithuanian: valdovas m, valdovė f
• Malay: pemerintah
• Mongolian: захирагч (mn) (zahiragč)
• Nahuatl: tecutli
• Norwegian:

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

  Nynorsk: herskar m, makthavar m

• Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎‎ (qaɣan)
• Persian: حاکم‎‎ (fa) (hâkem), حکمران‎‎ (fa) (hokmrân)
• Polish: władca (pl) m, władczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: governante (pt) m
• Romanian: guvernant (ro) m, domnitor (ro) m
• Russian: прави́тель (ru) m (pravítelʹ), прави́тельница (ru) f (pravítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вла̀да̄р m, вођа f

  Roman: vlàdār (sh) m, vođa (sh) f

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

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} upravljač
• Tagalog: ^{(please verify)} reglador, ^{(please verify)} dinasta
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} ஆட்சியாளர் (āṭciyāḷar)
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} ліні́йка f (liníjka)
• Uzbek: ^{(please verify)} hokim, ^{(please verify)} idora qiluvchi, ^{(please verify)} chizgʻich
• 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