regnant

adjective reg·nant \ ˈreg-nənt \

Definition of regnant

1 : exercising rule : reigning

2 a : having the chief power : dominant

b : of common or widespread occurrence

regnant was our Word of the Day on 02/09/2014. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of regnant from the Web

Berlin’s engrossing book offers a corrective to the regnant great man theory of technological progress, of which the virtuosic Steve Jobs is exhibit A.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Best of 2017: 100 recommended books," 20 Dec. 2017
The regnant medium in the pop and R&B markets until musicians copped to Sinatra, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles’ jive and fiddled with concepts and such, the single devolved into a means to an end during the High Reagan era.

— alfred soto, Billboard, "Did America Love 'Monkey,' Or Did It Just Love George Michael?," 26 Oct. 2017
Misguided proposals for Making the United Kingdom Great Again should be opposed, but their mental and material roots — the regnant forces of reaction — need to be understood.

— isaac chotiner, New York Times, "The Novels Explaining Britain’s Path From the Raj to Brexit," 8 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'regnant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The etymology of regnant is fairly straightforward: English speakers borrowed the word sometime around 1600 from Latin. Regnant is derived from the Latin verb regnare, meaning "to reign." Regnare, in turn, traces back to the noun regnum, meaning "reign," which derives from rex, the Latin word for "king." Other descendants of regnum include interregnum ("a period between two successive reigns or regimes"), regnal ("of or relating to a king or his reign"), and even reign itself.