regulate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.leɪt/ (UK); /ˈɹɛɡ.jə.leɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English regulaten, borrowed from Late Latin rēgulātus, the past participle of rēgulō (“to control by rule, direct”),^[2][3][4] from Latin rēgula (“rule, straight piece of wood”) (see rule),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to move in a straight line, direct”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To adjust by rule or method: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To govern by restriction is from the 1620s (about 1630 in the OED).^[3][5] To adjust a clock or mechanism by a standard of accuracy is by the 1660s.^[3][5] The intransitive sense, to make regulations, is from 1895.^[5] Regulator is from 1655 and regulation from 1672, as a rule or law from before 1715.^[2]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – to adjust by rule.^[2]
• c. 1630 – to govern by rules.^[5]
• 1655 – regulator.^[2]
• 1662 – to adjust a mechanism.^[5]
• 1672 – regulation.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To control or direct by rules or laws.
2. To adjust the amount or rate of something, such as heat or flow.
3. To adjust a machine so that it works accurately.
4. To keep in order.

Word family

• regulative
• regulatory
• regulatively
• self-regulating
• deregulate
• misregulate
• overregulate
• reregulate

Related words

• rule
• ruler
• regular
• regulation
• regulator
• rex

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press