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region

Etymology and origin of the English word region

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman regioun via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (regere)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈriː.dʒən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English regioun,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman regioun, Old French region “land, region, province”,[4][2] from Latin regiō (“direction, line, boundary; district, territory”) (accusative regiōnem),[4][5][2] from regere (“to direct, rule”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).[4][5] It is related to regent, regime and right.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large tract of land, a country or kingdom: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,[2] or about 1300;[4] the OED's first quotation is from about 1330.[6]

Semantic evolution

A part of the world or universe, such as the air or the heavens, is from 1340,[6] and a part of the world from the late 14th century.[4] “The rule of a kingdom”, about 1400, is obsolete.[6] The successive layers of the atmosphere were regions from 1563,[6] and a part of the body from the 16th century.[7] A place or state figuratively, as in the regions of the dead, is from 1526.[6] In the region of, “about”, of numbers, is attested from 1961.[4] Regional is from probably before 1425.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – a tract of land; a kingdom.[4][2]
  • 1340 – a part of the universe.[6]
  • before 1425 – regional.[2]
  • 1526 – a state or condition (figurative).[6]
  • 1563 – a layer of the atmosphere.[6]
  • 1961 – in the region of, about.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large area of land, usually without exact boundaries.
  2. An administrative district of a country.
  3. A part of the body: the lower back region.
  4. A sphere or field of activity.
  5. (in the region of) Approximately.

Word family

  • bioregion
  • subregion

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Region.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/region. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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