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
- To control or direct by rules or laws.
- To adjust the amount or rate of something, such as heat or flow.
- To adjust a machine so that it works accurately.
- To keep in order.
Word family
- regulative
- regulatory
- regulatively
- self-regulating
- deregulate
- misregulate
- overregulate
- reregulate
Related words
- rule
- ruler
- regular
- regulation
- regulator
- rex
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press