regimen
Pronunciation
Etymology
It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman regimen (“government, administration; medical treatment”) and partly borrowed from Latin regimen (“control, management, guidance”).[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed from regō (“to rule, direct”) with the suffix -men,[2][5] and in post-classical Latin it also meant a course of medical treatment, and in grammar the relation of a word to the word that governs it.[2] Etymonline traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).[3] The Old French noun is recorded for government from about 1265 and for medical treatment from 1314;[2] the same Latin noun gave régime, the source of regime, and is related to regiment and regent.[2][6][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
A course of diet and way of living kept for the sake of health: before 1400, in a translation of Lanfranc's Science of Cirurgie.[2][4][6] Etymonline dates it to about 1400.[3]
Semantic evolution
The word entered English as a medical term, and the sense "the action of governing" followed in the 15th century; the OED's first example is from Gilbert Hay's Buke of the Law of Armys (1456),[2][3] and that sense is now rare.[2][8] From 1531 grammarians used it for the government of one word by another.[2][7] The extended sense, any systematic course of action adopted for a purpose, is first recorded in Johnson's Rambler in 1751.[2][3] Johnson's dictionary (1755) still defined it only as the care in diet and living that suits a course of medicine.[9] Etymonline notes that regimen, regime and regiment were long confused, and that as late as the late 19th century careful writers used regimen and regime in each other's senses.[3] Since 1797 it has also been used in physical geography for the regime of a river.[2]
Timeline
- before 1400 – a course of diet and living for health.[2][4]
- 1456 – the action of governing, rule.[2]
- 1531 – in grammar, the government of one word by another.[2]
- 1655 – in chemistry, the regulation of heat in a procedure (obsolete by 1776).[2]
- 1663 – a particular system of government or control.[2]
- 1751 – any systematic course of action; a routine.[2][3]
- 1797 – in physical geography, the regime of a river.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- A systematic plan of diet, exercise and medication meant to improve or keep up a person's health or to treat an illness: Her doctor put her on a strict regimen of daily walks.[10][11][2]
- Any regular, prescribed course of action; a routine.[2][10]
- (rare) Government or rule; a system of administration.[11][2][8]
- (rare) In grammar, the government of one word by another.[2][7]
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins