Etymologically
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règle

Etymology and origin of the French word règle

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1200, Moralités sur Job
Borrowed from
Latin regula
Ultimate origin
Latin (regō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rego
Latin surgo
French surgir
Latin regula
French règle
French régler
Latin regularis
English regular
Latin dirigo
French diriger
Latin directio
English direction
French direction
Latin regio
French région
Latin regionalis
English regional

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁɛɡl/[1]

Forms

règle f (plural règles)[1] Old French reugle (12th century), regle (about 1265), often rigle in the 14th century.[2][3] The spelling règle replaced regle in the Académie's dictionary of 1740.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rēgula (“straightedge, ruler; standard, rule; rod, bar”),[4][2][5][3][6] from regō (“to guide, direct”) (see régir).[2][7] This learned form drove out the older ones handed down from the same Latin word:[4][2] riule (1119, “moral precept”; about 1170, “straightedge”), which did not survive the Middle Ages but gave English rule,[4][5][1] and the popular reille (“lath, board; door bar”), source of English rail.[4][1] Another old outcome, rille “strip of bacon”, lives on in rillettes and rillons.[8][4]

Compare Italian regola, Occitan regla, Catalan regla, Spanish regla, Portuguese regra and German Regel.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1200 the Moralités sur Job use it for a principle or maxim that guides conduct, and the Dialogue Grégoire speaks of la riugle des moines, the rule of a religious order.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word took the narrower sense of a prescription grounded in custom (Pascal, before 1662), whence dans les règles (1688, Racine), en règle (1740) and de règle (about 1780).[2][4] From 1538 it is used of the precepts of a science or craft, then of the arts (règles classiques, 1660) and grammar (1690), and in the plural of the rules of a game (1538, la règle du jeu, 1921).[2] In mathematics it names the règle de trois (1520) and les quatre règles (1690).[2][4] C'est une rigle generalle (1458) shows the sense “what usually happens”, l'exception confirme la règle is recorded in 1870.[4][2]

The instrument for ruling lines is règle again from 1317, after the older riule; the slide rule, règle à calcul, appears in 1845.[4] Furetière (1690) records règles “menstrual periods”.[4]

Timeline

  • 1119 – The older form riule, Philippe de Thaon.[4]
  • c. 1200 – Regle for a guiding principle and a monastic rule.[4]
  • 1317 – The ruler for drawing lines.[4]
  • 1520 – La regle de trois.[4]
  • 1538 – Rules of a science or craft; rules of a game.[2]
  • 1688 – Dans les règles, Racine.[4]
  • 1690 – Règles “menstrual periods”, Furetière.[4]
  • 1740 – Se mettre en règle, Académie; the spelling règle.[4]
  • 1845 – Règle à calcul.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ruler, straightedge: tracer un trait à la règle, règle à calcul, a slide rule.[8][1]
  2. A rule, principle or precept that governs conduct, thought or a practice: les règles de la grammaire, les règles du jeu.[8][1]
  3. The rule of a religious order: la règle de saint Benoît.[4][8]
  4. What normally happens: en règle générale, l'exception confirme la règle.[4][2]
  5. En règle: in order, as required, être en règle, to have one's papers in order, dans les règles, properly.[8][4]
  6. (mathematics) An arithmetic operation: règle de trois.[4]
  7. Règles (plural): menstrual period, menses.[1][4]

Word family

  • régler
  • réglette
  • dérégler
  • règlement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 219a
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Règle.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/r%C3%A8gle. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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