Etymologically
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regiment

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: noun /ˈredʒ.ɪ.mənt/; verb /ˈredʒ.ɪ.ment/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English regiment, borrowed from Old French regiment (“government, rule”),[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin regimentum (“rule, direction”),[2][3] from Latin regō (“to rule, direct, keep straight”) (see right),[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Government, rule, control, a sense now obsolete: 1390 in the OED, before 1393 in Gower's Confessio Amantis in Barnhart.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A system of governing is from 1474, the period of a reign from 1566,[6] and self-control from about 1412.[6] The military sense, a unit of an army, is first recorded in 1579, from French use;[2][3] it first referred to permanent organization and discipline, and the number of soldiers has varied widely.[3] The verb, to form into a regiment, is from 1617,[2][4] and to organize systematically from 1698.[2][3] Regimental is from 1702.[2]

Timeline

  • 1390 – rule, government.[6]
  • 1474 – a system of governing.[6]
  • 1579 – a military unit.[2]
  • 1617 – to regiment (verb).[2][4]
  • 1698 – to organize systematically.[2]
  • 1702 – regimental.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A military unit of ground troops, of two or more battalions, usually commanded by a colonel.
  2. A large number of people or things: regiments of beer bottles.
  3. (obsolete) Rule; government.

Verb

  1. To force strict discipline or uniformity on, especially in a domineering way.
  2. To organize systematically.
  3. To form into a regiment or regiments.

Word family

  • regimental
  • regimentally
  • regimentation

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press