rulen.1
/ruːl/, U.S. /rul/ I. Senses relating to regulations or principles.
1.
a. Also with capital initial. The code of discipline or body of regulations observed by a religious order or congregation; the order or congregation itself. Also as a mass noun.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun] > monastic rule
regheleOE
rulea1225
perfection1340
livingc1350
rubric1809
a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) i. 13 Ðridðe mynecene cyn is mid ealre atelucest..þo ne buh nodor na þurh reules [OE Corpus Cambr. regules; L. regula] wissunge, na þurh lareowe tæcunge afondede swa swa gold on heorðe.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 1 Ȝe mine leoue sustren habbeð moni dei icraued on me efter riwle.
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 2 Nu aski ȝe hwat riwle ȝe ancren schullen holden.
c1300 St. Francis (Laud) l. 196 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 59 (MED) To þe pope Innocent..he bad graunti is Religion..A[n]t þat he scholde is ordre preouen and is Revle al-so.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 437 (MED) In an abbay þat now hatte Anastacius his abbay, he levede by rule [L. regulariter] sevene ȝere.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 246 (MED) Haueth none envye..but lyueth after ȝowre rewle.
1445–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Feb. 1445 §20. m. 23 Professid yn the rule of Seint Austyn.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Fiiiv As our holy father saynt Austen sayth in his rule.
1568 D. Lindsay Supplic. Syde Taillis 59 In all thare rewlis, thay [sc. nuns] will nocht find, Quha suld beir vp thair taillis behind.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 168 A begging Friar of the Order of Saint Francis..gave me to eat, but would receive no money for it; saying, it was against their rule to handle any money.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 130 There are foure rules, or religious Orders.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Carthusians The Rule given them by their Founder is exceedingly rigorous.
1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 630/1 The rule of the Franciscans..is briefly this.
1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain iii. x. 376 It was indeed but ten years..since the severest of modern rules had been introduced into England.
1890 W. Meynell J. H. Newman iv. 55 Next month Father Newman, with Stanton and St. John,..formally received Faber..into the rule of St. Philip Neri.
1902 F. M. Steele Convents of Great Brit. 11 Those who belong to uncloistered Orders can go out as their Rule permits.
1963 J. Neusner Fellowship in Judaism i. 18 Obedience to the rule of the order meant that special concern for the sanctity of food entered into hitherto simple social relationships.
1996 Food & Wine Dec. 93/1 The Rule of Benedict, followed by generations of nuns and monks the world over.
b. In extended use with reference to any other group or society. Now rare.
ΚΠ
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 507 (MED) Þis arn oure lawes, Boþe oure reule and our riht þat we þe rede holde.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage iii. vii. 276 An excellent Doctor, named Boni, framed their [sc. Caballists] rule and prayers.
?1724 Secret Hist. Free-masons 13 He made Masons and gave them Charges, and taught them the Manners of Masons. And commanded that Rule to be holden ever after.
1873 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium (new ed.) 7 Angels with us rehearse their own majestic rule.
1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1980) 277 We built our orphanage. We ran our school. Now only I am left to keep the rule.
2.
a. A principle, regulation, or maxim governing individual conduct.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule > for individual
rule?c1225
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 2 Þeos riwle is eauer Inwið & richteð þe heorte.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 97 (MED) Þise byeþ þe zeue ruieles of holy lyf.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Gal. vi. 16 Who euere schulen suwe this rewle [L. regulam], pees vpon hem, and mercy.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 1 (MED) A Grete reule..was sette be Seint Paule in þe first capitle Ad Romanos.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Comm. on Canticles (Univ. Oxf. 64) in Psalter (1884) 498 It is a generall rewle that man swa lifes, that is, thorgh verray penaunce.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 237 The Jewes of a great conscience & of a rewle dooen abstain from eatyng of allmaner swynes fleashe.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 26 It is a rule here to shun all sadnes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 531 If thou well observe The rule of not too much, by temperance taught. View more context for this quotation
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 45 Tho' he guide others to Heaven by the plain-sailing Rules of the Gospel.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 523 Their rules of life Defective and unsanction'd, prov'd too weak To bind the roving appetite.
1809 W. Wordsworth Poems (1815) II. 236 A few strong instincts and a few plain rules.
1862 J. Ruskin Unto this Last i. 7 All endeavour to deduce rules of action from balance of expediency is in vain.
1901 Church Q. Rev. Oct. 86 When she saw people did not like her she had a rule of going on her way and troubling no more about them.
1960 J. Masteroff Warm Penins. i. 12 Joanne. I hope you realize—this is against all my rules. Steve. What? Joanne. Going out with a stranger.
2008 Independent 4 Feb. 31/1 A new breed of able and bright professional women who are..refusing to live by the rules knocked into them by embattled gender warriors.
b. With of. Such a principle as applied to a particular quality or virtue.
ΚΠ
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 5 (MED) For in..bookes of stories..schyneþ clerliche þe riȝt rule of þewes [L. norma morum], ensaumple of leuynge.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 14374 (MED) Qua dred ne troud noght his might Ne heild noght wel þe reuel o right.
a1456 tr. Secreta Secret. (Marmaduke, Ashm. 59) (1977) 209 (MED) Who þat oþer-wyse giveþe, he doþe wronge and brekeþe þe rule of largesse.
a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) l. 49 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 7 (MED) I haue not kept þe rule of spekynge to þi worschip aftir þi blessid techyng.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxxii. A The kinge shal gouerne after ye rule of rightuousnes.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 1131 No care of justice, nor no rule of reason,..Did thenceforth ever enter in his minde.
1639 T. B. tr. J.-P. Camus Certain Moral Relations in S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 248 This foolish and false rule of honour, which passeth..among the Nobility and Gentry of France.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xxxiii The most noble, most generous..amonst all the Sects, who have given us the Rules of Ethiques.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. i. 12 I could not forbear shewing my Impatience (perhaps against the strict Rules of Decency) by putting my Finger frequently on my Mouth.
1780 Mirror No. 79 A scrupulous observance of certain rules of decorum.
1840 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 49 I had no rule of morality, felt and believed.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede II. ii. xx. 97 Mrs. Poyser was strict in adherence to her own rules of propriety.
1902 R. D. D. Rainy Anc. Catholic Church vi. 106 A place was provided..for the ordinary Christians..who regulate their conduct by the rules of civil righteousness.
1968 A. L. Rowse Diary 17 Mar. (2003) 425 One thing I have been wanting to get off my chest anyway—one thing you are not allowed to say under the contemporary rule of humbug.
1993 A. Rich What is found There xix. 161 The reaction to having a purlieu invaded, a ritual space violated, the rules of decorum broken.
c. In extended use: a person or thing regarded as an example for conduct, or serving as a model of some quality.
ΚΠ
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 163 (MED) My oonly sooþfast sone, Ihesu Crist crucified, þe which was verri wey, reule, & doctrin afore þe iȝe of her intellect.
c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist 614 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 240 Sancte Iohnne þe scole of uertuise wes,..& reule of rychtwisnes but wen.
a1560 Lang Rosair in J. A. W. Bennett Devotional Pieces (1955) 332 Haill..the reull of prudence.
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. 22 If they but cast their eyes on her who should be the rule of all their sex, as shee is the ornament.
1679 E. Bathurst Truth's Vindic. i. 4 It is in Christ Jesus, whom his People do believe; and he is the Rule by which they live.
1728 D. Waterland Crit. Hist. Athanasian Creed (ed. 2) viii. 212 To be a Rule to his Clergy all his Time.
1756 A. Butler Lives Saints I. 243 He was looked upon as a living rule of religious perfection.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna ix. xxviii. 207 They leave All hope, or love, or truth, or liberty,..To be a rule and law to ages that survive.
1858 J. Reynolds tr. Al-ʻUtbī Kitab-i-Yamini 92 He is a rule for those who are possessed of acumen, and an excellent judge of the right way of choosing.
1909 Catholic Educ. Assoc. Nov. 303 He is an inspirer rather than a lecturer, a suggester more than a demonstrator; a model more than he is a rule.
2006 R. G. Dennis tr. G. G. Pontano Baiae ii. xxiv. 153 Singular in comeliness and charm, She is the rule of grace and cultivation.
3.
a. A principle regulating practice or procedure; a dominant custom or habit. Also as a mass noun: custom, convention.the rule of the road: see road n. Phrases 15.sailing rule: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > prescribed rule of conduct
wayOE
rulea1387
lorec1400
governailc1425
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule
lawa1225
precepta1325
line1340
observancea1382
rulea1387
reglec1475
regimentc1485
reuglec1485
instruction1526
maxima1564
maxim1578
preception1620
reglement1622
positure1624
gnomon1627
regulationa1640
parapegm1646
rubric1891
reg1904
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > routine > rigid
rulea1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 451 (MED) Þe pope..forsook þe reule of þe olde tyme [L. antiquitatis regula], and sacrede Thurstyn.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 1500 (MED) Pas, þou & þi prelatis & prestis..Raueste all on a raw as ȝoure rewill askis.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 690 Hit is the custom of knyghtes arraunte for to make a knyght to juste, woll he othir nell he. ‘Sir,’ seyde sir Epynogrys, ‘ys that the rule and custom of you?’
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) v. l. 5510 The rewle off Pask..That befor thai had in were..he thare-off made knawlage clere.
1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxiv. 60 In Scotland had not bene sic tuill, Gif this had bene þe common reull.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 175 Of a strange nature is the sute you follow, yet in such rule, that the Venetian law cannot impugne you. View more context for this quotation
1651 E. Nicholas Papers (1886) I. 266 A rule that there should bee noe picking and chuseing of partes of directions.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 297 Nature here Wantond as in her prime,..Wilde above rule or art. View more context for this quotation
1752 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 22 Sept. in Lett. to Son (1774) II. 282 It is respectful to bow to the King of England, it is disrespectful to bow to the King of France; it is the rule to courtesy to the Emperor.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 108 'Twas against the rules of his house.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. ix. 432 It had long been the rule at Rome that no officer of justice or finance could enter the dwelling inhabited by the minister who represented a Catholic state.
1893 S. J. Gee Auscult. & Percuss. (ed. 4) 92 Let mediate auscultation ever be considered the rule of practice.
1929 Times 8 May 17/1 At road junctions they favour the rule that the vehicle on the more important road has priority.
1942 H. L. Mencken Diary 5 Feb. (1989) 195 It was the rule of the club to close every evening with a waltz.
1999 Financial Times 9 Oct. (Money section) 5/4 You might have a rule that you will exit if the stock falls 20 per cent from its present level.
b. A principle governing how a war or battle should be conducted; (in later use) esp. one accepted by all sides in a conflict. Frequently in rules of engagement (see Phrases 2j) and rules of war.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > standard of conduct [phrase] > according to rules of conduct
rules of war1539
selon les règles1825
1539 R. Morison in tr. Frontinus Strategemes & Policies Warre sig. Nvi (heading) Rules of warre, taken out of Vegetius.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin vi. 92 If he would denie this chalenge, he offred to iustifie it vpon his body by the execution of armes, according to the lawes and rules of warre.
1653 W. Prynne Gospel Plea 14 It must needs be most unjust, unreasonable, unconscionable, and against the common rules of war.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 101 The Lapythæ..taught the Steed..the Rules of War to know. View more context for this quotation
1710 tr. B. Telles Trav. Jesuits in Ethiopia ii. ix. 166 But Martial Rules being little observ'd in Ethiopa, the Viceroy seeing the Enemy at Hand,..fought and was routed.
1788 Perpetual Laws Commonw. Mass. 326 All sutlers and retainers to the camp..shall be subject to orders according to the rules and discipline of war.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert viii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. III. 158 The rules of fair battle will be punctually observed.
1867 T. C. Baker Hist. U.S. Secret Service 34 There is nothing in the Secret Service that demands a violation of honor, or a sacrifice of principle, beyond the ordinary rules of warfare.
1941 Times 17 Nov. 5/3 It is the rule of war, recognized by all civilized countries, that a conqueror makes himself responsible for the feeding of the inhabitants in the territories he has occupied.
1991 D. J. Rothman Strangers at Bedside ii. 49 Since these investigations were integral to the military effort, the rules of the battlefield seemed to apply to the laboratory.
2004 N.Y. Times Mag. 2 May 94/2 We hesitate to strike a mosque because the rules of war designate it as a protected place.
c. A regulation governing the playing of a game or sport.advantage, offside rule, etc., and Queensberry, winter rules, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule > determining the course of something
rule1619
1619 T. Gataker Spiritvall Watch 9 They onely win the wager or get the garland, that run according to the Lawes of the game, to the rules of the race.
1674 C. Cotton Compl. Gamester vi. 87 The Rules belonging to this Game [sc. piquet] are these.
1754 Pond's Racing Cal. p. xxxii Rules concerning Racing in general.
1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 189 The game of billiards, with the rules and odds.
1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 158/1 The rules [of cricket] are at once too well known and too complicated to be here explained.
1885 Outing June 368/2 He finds proper fault with the rule in short whist that allows the last trick taken to be turned.
1922 J. Kettelwell Beaver 58 The outlines of the game itself are so simple..that the question of rules scarcely arises.
1937 C. W. Jones Rugby Football i. 1 Experiments are being made with a new rule affecting the spoiling around the scrummages.
1969 V. Bartlett Past of Pastimes iv. 43 In the United States, croquet, with rather different rules, is called ‘roque’.
2004 Chess Jan. 57/2 David came across a board and the rules..for a game of hexagonal chess dating from 1853.
4. Law.
a. An order made by a judge or court with reference to a particular case only; a ruling. Now rare except in rule nisi n. at Compounds 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court > decision in writing or court order > limited to specific case
rule1425
rule of court1631
1425 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Apr. 1425 §12. m. 4 Your rewele in so chargyng, as hit semeth..his harde, rygorous and also a grevance.
1474–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 3rd Roll §7. m. 30 Like processe, rule, jugement and execution be had theryn, as usuelly is used in writes of dette sued atte commen lawe.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 115 The partes of a Iudge are..to giue the rule or sentence.
?c1663 B. Whitelocke Diary (1990) 295 After he had given the rule in two or three motions, he rose & tooke his leave of his brethren.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4437/3 The Court made a Rule for his Execution, as is usual in such Cases.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxvii. 308 The rule against him was made absolute.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 220/2 Rules not general are such as are confined to the particular case in reference to which they have been granted.
1862 Upper Canada Law Jrnl. June 153/1 The counsel..discovered the mistake, and obtained leave to amend his rule by making it returnable in this term, in order to serve a correct copy of it.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Rule Particular rules, or orders in particular causes.
1910 Southeastern Reporter 67 708/1 Any violation of the judge's rule in regard to the sequestration is punishable as for contempt.
1991 Times 22 May 36/6 When the Act was passed [in 1838] ‘rules’ were..a term denoting decisions or rulings by the judiciary on a case by case basis.
b. A formal order or regulation governing the procedure or decisions of a court of law; a decision or decree forming part of the common law, or having the force of law.gag, standing rule, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > [noun] > rule
rule1530
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > [noun] > rule or direction governing
rule1530
practice direction1942
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 264/2 Rule of cannon lawe, canon.
1569 J. Leslie Def. Honour Marie Quene of Scotl. ii. f. 56v The title of the crowne of this realme ys not subiecte to the rules and principles of the common lawe of this realme.
1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 100 Many profitable principals, and rewles of the lawes of this Realme, worthie to be remembred.
1699 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) IV. 541 Mr. Pugh, clerk of the rules in the kings bench court.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 64 The temporal courts adhering to the former, and the spiritual adopting the latter as their rule of proceeding.
1779 Mirror No. 6 He felt no great inclination to load his memory with the rules of our municipal law.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) IV. 523 Lord Thurlow said, that..the rule was such, and so many estates stood upon it, that it could not be shaken.
1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 379/2 Either according to the rules of the common law, or by the operation of the Statute of Uses.
1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 358/1 The rule that every will must be in writing is a mere fragment—only the limb of a law.
1925 Act 15 Geo. V c. 18 §117. 491 A corporation..entitled by rules made under..the Public Trustee Act, 1906, to act as custodian trustee.
1971 in Southern Reporter 247 287/2 (title) Florida Traffic Court Rules.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) ii. 48 Our own government's enthusiasm to abandon the rule against hearsay in the British court system.
5.
a. A regulation framed or adopted by an organization, institution, or other body for governing its conduct and that of its members; a precept or condition which must be fulfilled on pain of penalty or punishment. Often in rules and regulations.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation
ordinancec1384
rule1438
ordera1500
reglement1604
regulation1611
correction1657
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule > for corporate body
rule1438
inn law1930
1438 in C. Welch Hist. Pewterers of London (1902) I. 10 (MED) Firste for the treu observance of al the..reules in the saide crafte, that euery persone..whan..he is warned by the mastirs..that he come.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 44 (MED) The mastir ought to sette a competent houre and certayn rewle and certain space of tyme in whiche the childe sholde continue in his scole.
a1525 ( Coventry Leet Bk. (1908) II. 303 (MED) No maister of Craft..take nor cause to be taken eny maner suyte..ayenst eny persone of their Craftes be-cause of eny disobeying or nonperformyng of eny the rules or ordenauncez of their Craftes.
1558 Queen Mary I Will in J. M. Stone Hist. Mary I (1901) 510 To keep and observe the ancient rewles and statuts of the said hows [sc. Savoy Hospital].
1602 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1884) 1st Ser. VI. 338 To..prescryve reullis and ordinanceis anent the keiping of the foull personis fra the clene.
1659 P. Heylyn Certamen Epistolare 89 Their Decretals were made by them intentionally to serve for a rule and a reiglement of the Church in general.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 90 To walk the Quarter-deck in Quirpo, is to walk against the Rules of the Navy.
1755 Connoisseur No. 96 (1756) 581 Laws, Rules, Regulations, or Orders, shall be formed for the Anti-Gallicans, Ubiquarians, Gregorians, or any private clubs and societies.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Rules and Articles. Under this term may be considered the military code of the British army.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess i. 20 Averring it was clear against all rules For any man to go.
1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 356/1 The rules set by a club or society, and enforced upon its members by exclusion from the society,..are laws, but not positive laws.
1929 Times 28 Aug. 7/7 ‘Frog-marching’ and carrying patients head downwards were against the rules of the hospital, as was any form of ill-treatment of patients.
1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman (1959) 185 Jeremy, with his insistence on rules and regulations, his instinct for decorum in all things, seemed to her a spoil-sport and a life-denier.
1973 V. C. Ike Potter's Wheel (1974) xv. 125 The school rules required every pupil to vacate the classroom blocks during recess.
2005 New Yorker 31 Oct. 34/3 Many companies have a rule that their employees can buy or sell company stock only during preordained periods.
b. Also with capital initial. With following numeral or letter: a particular regulation of an institution or organization. Cf. Rule 43 n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule > for corporate body > a particular
rule1767
1767 Statutes & Rules, Gen. Infirmary, at Salisbury 52 That no Stranger or others be permitted to see the Infirmary on that Day [sc. Sunday], nor shall the Patients be then visited, without special Leave of the Matron... [See Rule 10].
1842 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. 37 ii. 202 Rule 36... In the event of the balance of the retirer's account alone amounting to a sum equal to the half value of his annuity, [etc.].
1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland xii. 180 Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.
1929 Bookman (U.S.) July 527/2 Rule G, in all railroad rule books, prohibiting the use of intoxicants.
1974 Guidelines to Volunteer Services (N.Y. State Dept. Correctional Services) 43 Rule 5, when a parolee must abstain from alcohol.
1998 Yachts & Yachting 21 Aug. 63/1 Rule 63.5 states that the protest committee shall first decide whether all the requirements of the protest had been met.
6. In plural and chiefly with the. Now historical.
a. An area outside a prison within which, on payment of a security, certain prisoners, esp. debtors, were permitted to reside. Cf. liberty n.1 6c(c).Used esp. with reference to the Fleet and King's Bench prisons in London.In quot. 1632 in singular with same sense.figurative in quot. 1830. N.E.D. (1898) at Freedom defines the phrase freedom of the Rules in this quot. as ‘liberty granted to a Scotch advocate to plead at the English bar’, following Andrew Lang's gloss in his 1893 edition of Ivanhoe; further evidence for this sense, however, is lacking.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > for debtors > the Rules (area for debtors)
rules1632
1632 T. Dekker Eng. Villanies (new ed.) xiii. sig. J4v Here they [sc. bankrupts]..lye in faire chambers within the Rule.
1648 Moderate Intelligencer No. 148. 1123 The Houses had notice that Sir Lewis Dives had gone beyond the Rules of the Kings Bench.
1654 E. Dendy Humble Petition (single sheet) An Account..of the place called the Rules of the Upper Bench Prison, where (for want of Room in the Prison houses) Prisoners are lodged.
1662 in W. W. Hening Statutes at Large: Coll. Laws Virginia (1823) II. 77 If the sherriffe shall permitt any person dwelling within the rules of a prison..to walke abroad out of prison though with a keeper, and to have the benefitt of the rules or to lodge in his own house; the said sherriffe..shalbe ordered to pay the debt.
1703 Trick upon Trick 4 By the Prison is meant all the Rules.
1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscretions V. 42 They live every bit as grand, and keep a mort of company in the rules.
1830 W. Scott Ivanhoe in Waverley Novels XVI. Introd. p. xx Ivanhoe..may be said to have procured for its author the freedom of the Rules, since he has ever since been permitted to exercise his powers of fictitious composition in England, as well as Scotland.
1847 C. G. F. Gore Castles in Air III. x. 291 I took him out of the Rules of the Bench, and brought him home to my poor chimney-corner.
1883 J. Ashton Social Life Reign of Queen Anne II. 247 To aid these, the prisoners took it in turns to perambulate the rules, and solicit help in money or kind.
1905 Baily's Mag. July 49/1 He died, prematurely aged, at fifty-two, within the rules of Fleet Prison.
1980 E. Jong Fanny ii. iv. 200 They saw him be stripp'd naked by the Prisoners fer Garnish an' would not give him Freedom of the Rules.
1992 J. T. Hayes Brit. Paintings 16th through 19th Cent. 176/2 He was arrested at his lodgings in Vauxhall and committed to the King's Bench, living within the rules of the prison until his release in 1802.
b. The freedom or privilege of residing within such an area. Cf. day rule n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > for debtors > the Rules (area for debtors) > freedom of the Rules
rules1730
1730 Rep. Comm. State Goals 7 It gives the new Marshal a Pretence to squeeze great Sums of Money, out of such Prisoners as enjoy the Rules.
1790 Ann. Reg., Hist. 97 This bill therefore had contained clauses..abolishing an indulgence at present existing, commonly called rules, by which a prisoner is permitted to go out of his confinement to a certain distance.
1842 A. Dowling Rep. Queen's Bench Pract. Court 9 346 It was difficult to see how the fact of his having enjoyed the rules of the prison during a portion of the twelve months, could interfere with his right to avail himself of the act of Parliament.
1888 W. Besant Fifty Years Ago 77 Both at the King's Bench and the Fleet debtors were allowed to purchase what were called the Rules, which enabled them to live within a certain area outside the prison, and practically left them free.
2004 ‘S. Blayne’ Marrying Marquis ix. 237 While he had lacked adequate means to pay his creditors, he had possessed sufficient assets to purchase ‘the rules’.
7. Biology. The accepted principles and code of taxonomic nomenclature, esp. as applied to the ranked hierarchy and binomial scheme of designating species based on the Linnaean system.The rules for the naming of particular groups of organisms are now specified by appropriate international codes, namely the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN; for wild plants, and fungi), Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), Prokaryotes (ICNP), and Viruses (ICNV).
ΚΠ
1775 H. Rose tr. C. Linnaeus Elements Bot. ii. 294 Now generic names are faulty, or contradict the rules before laid down, in three several respects.
1787 J. Banks Let. 5 Dec. in J. E. Smith Select. Corr. Linnæus & other Naturalists (1821) II. 574 I have invariably studied by the rules of his System [sc. that of Linnaeus.]
1836 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 7) 19 Some species of these genera fall here by the rules of the artificial system.
1872 Entomologist's Monthly Mag. 8 42 The twelfth edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae (1767) is the date fixed by the Rules of the British Association for Zoological nomenclature.
1919 Science 4 Apr. 334/1 Under the rules are included statements of general principles to which all generic nomenclature should conform when considered from the standpoint of the type concept.
1961 G. G. Simpson Princ. Animal Taxon. i. 32 Neotypes have not hitherto been recognized in the Rules, but there are proposals to incorporate them therein.
2003 Taxon 52 853/1 Essentially the same wording appeared in Art. 28 of the first set of international rules of nomenclature that adopted the present-day title of ‘Code’ rather than ‘Rules’, the Stockholm code.
8. Horse Racing. In plural and usually with capital initial. The regulations of the Jockey Club or the National Hunt Committee. Chiefly in under (the) Rules: (conducted) in accordance with these regulations.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > rules
articles1607
rule1886
1886 Earl of Suffolk & Berkshire & W. G. Craven in Earl of Suffolk et al. Racing & Steeple-chasing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 67 Under the ‘Rules’ the extra 2 lbs. in the scale..is only necessary on weighing in.
1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf vi. 128 Unauthorised meetings—that is to say, meetings not under Rules.
1920 Times 8 Jan. 5/2 Captain Scott was not registered under the rules.
1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 10/4 He is one of twin brothers who have both ridden several winners under Rules.
2006 Eventing Feb. 49/1 She won a hurdle race under Rules two weeks prior to becoming National Under-25 champion last year.
9. Australian. In plural and with capital initial. Australian National Football, a form of football played on an oval ground with an oval ball by teams of eighteen players.Shortened from Australian rules n. at Australian n. and adj. Compounds.Recorded earliest in attributive use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > Australian football > [noun] > rules
Australian rules1925
rule1945
1945 Canberra Times 14 May 4/2 (heading) Rules Football.
1946 D. Stivens Courtship of Uncle Henry 18 In those days..they played Rules in long pants that reached below the knee.
1967 Canberra Times 17 June 27 Victoria expects to win over W.A. in Rules.
1976 Sydney Morning Herald 27 May 22 Rules penalty upsets Saints.
2009 T. Daniher et al. Danihers iii. 25 It was alright when you were playing against a side that had also played Rules on the Saturday.
II. Senses relating to order or governance.† 10.
a. Conduct, behaviour; manner of acting. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun]
tightc888
workOE
laitsc1225
rule?c1225
guise1303
conditionsc1374
actiona1393
governancea1393
governailc1425
port?a1439
fashion1447
dressa1450
governinga1450
walkingc1450
abearing?1454
deport1474
behaving1482
dealing1484
guidinga1500
demeanoura1513
behaviour?1521
walk?1567
daps1582
courses1592
deportment1601
behave?1615
deportation1616
containment1619
conduct1673
haviour1752
daddyism1984
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun]
rule?c1225
sizec1420
rate1472
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 66 Þeose beoð alle ischrapede ut of ancre riule [c1230 Corpus riwle].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Philipp. iii. 16 Netheles to what thing we han comen, that we vndirstonde the same thing, and that we parfytli dwelle in the same reule [L. regula].
a1450 York Plays (1885) 220 (MED) Sir, þer is a ranke swayne Whos rule is noȝt right, For thurgh..his romour in þis reme Hath raysede mekill reke.
1472 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 24 (MED) Stephen Taillour..is a vacabond..it is necessary to charge hym to be of gode reule.
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 212 Sik reule gerris the be seruit wyth cald rost.
1535 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1824) VI. 2 It is not meet for a child of her age to keep such rule yet.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 119 If you priz'd my Ladies fauour.., you would not giue meanes for this vnciuill rule . View more context for this quotation
b. Breeding, upbringing. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [noun]
nourishingc1325
nurturec1330
afaitementc1400
nurseryc1400
nortelryc1405
alterage?c1450
nouriturec1450
rulec1525
upbringingc1525
education1527
nourituring1555
nutriture1567
breeding1577
nurturing1578
nuzzling1586
rearing1611
frame1632
seasoning1649
nurtureship1837
child-rearing1842
paedotrophy1857
raising1929
c1525 ( in N. J. Byrne Great Parchm. Bk. Waterford (2007) 88 There sholde be no gentleman is child of Irish ruele..fusterid nor kepte in soiorne within the saide Citie.
11. Good order and discipline; a settled well-regulated state or condition.† b. Without adjective. Obsolete.
a. With preceding adjective, as good rule, right rule, etc. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > [noun] > conformity to principles of social order > orderly condition of state or society
peace?a1160
God's peacec1300
good rulec1300
the king's peace1428
quiet?c1450
civilityc1454
civilness1556
composure1702
social order1703
eunomy1721
eunomia1861
c1300 St. Dunstan (Harl.) l. 46 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 35 (MED) Of þe hous of Glastnebure a gret ordeynour he was, And makede moche of gode reule þat neuer er among hem nas.
a1391 J. Clanvow Two Ways (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1975) 66 We musten keepe oure flessh in right reule as men keepen a seek man þat is disposed to fallen in woodnesse, hoopynge to bryngen hym to heele.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5991 Prelates and prestes of ilka suggette, Þat þai wald noght in right rewel sette.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4958 Eelde gan [read can]..sette men by her ordinaunce In good Reule and in gouernaunce.
1458 A. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 41 Sey Grenefeld that if he wyll..brynge hym [sc. Clement Paston] in-to good rewyll and lernyng..I wyll geue hym x marc. for hys labore.
1513 T. More in R. Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 761 Wales..was begonne to be farre out of good rule and waxen wylde.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xii. 19 To keip gude reule he raid, and tuke na rest.
a1617 J. Melville Mem. Own Life (1827) 374 He had greter fascherie to kepe gud reull and ordour.
1660 C. Hoole New Discov. Old Art of teaching Schoole ix. 293 That the Master doe not molest, or come amongst his Scholars,..nor trouble himself concerning them, more then to hear that they keep good rule.
1700 G. Booth tr. Diodorus Siculus Hist. Libr. xxiv. 719 The Observance of good Rule and Order has produc'd many good and great Effects.
1799 G. Stacey Let. 8 July in Early Amer. Trade with Mauritius (1954) 41 Capt. Joliff..finding thing in perfect rule, permitted Capt. Thompson..his course.
1878 24 Oct. in W. M. N. Geary Law Theatres & Music-halls (1885) 185 That good rule and order be preserved within each theatre to the utmost of the power of the manager.
1885 C. M. Yonge Eng. Hist. Reading Bks. II. ii. lii. 139 King Henry kept good rule, and made the Normans fear his strong hand.
1931 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc. 14 114 Licenses were given then from year to year... They involved an engagement to keep good rule and order.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > [noun] > established order or system > fact of being well ordered or regulated
rule1490
orderedness1724
1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xii. sig. Dij Folke without Rule and without mesure.
1540 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 370/2 That thai caus in euery kirk within thair diocy..cure, reule, reparatioun and reparaling to be..maid and done.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) v. 21 Abbotis by rewll, and Lorde but ressone.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. ii. 16 He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause Within the belt of Rule . View more context for this quotation
1672 M. A. Cataplus 49 And thus he kept in rule and order With punishments all that same border.
1710 Hist. Wks. Learned Oct. 623 The intendments of Society can never be answer'd without publick Rule and Order.
1793 J. Bowles Dialogue Third 14 in Three Dialogues on Rights of Britons (ed. 3) I see the reason why your restless fellows are all such violent Democrats, as I think you call 'em—for in a Monarchy they are kept under the hatches of rule and order.
12. Control, government, dominion; power, sway; an instance of this.buckshot-, Home, mob-rule, etc.: see the first element.
a. With possessive adjective or of, specifying the person or thing ruling.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > [noun] > by a person or body
rulea1393
government?c1400
administrationa1637
society > authority > rule or government > [noun] > over a person or thing
rulea1393
regiment1518
regimence1543
regality1626
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. 108 (MED) The poeple stod in obeissance Under the reule of governance.
a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) 38 (MED) Where bene oure shippes, where bene oure swerdes become?..Allas, oure reule halteth, hit is benome.
1459 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 192 (MED) I pray and charge Margaret my wife that..in noo wise she put her self undre the Rewle of any singular persone.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xi. §4. 43 Wha is oure lord, that is, what is he til whas rewle & conuersacioun we sall..conforme vs til?
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 33 Greter matters than shotynge are vnder the rule and wyll of the wether.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 67 Under the despoticall rule of the Monarch.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 11 If David's rule Jerusalem Displease, The Dog-star heats their Brains to this Disease.
1709 M. Prior Carmen Seculare (new ed.) in Poems Several Occasions 155 Lead forth the Years for Peace and Plenty fam'd, From Saturn's Rule, and better Metal nam'd.
1758 R. Griffiths Descr. Thames 104 All Fishers, &c.,..coming to the City of London, shall be in the Rule of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.
1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 49 Their jailors' rule, they thought, Grew merciful.
1848 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 III. vi. 272 Ill-disposed and intriguing individuals, inimical to British rule.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar v. 46 The rule of an organised force was becoming the only possible protection against the rule of mobs.
1941 W. J. Cash Mind of South i. iii. 62 The drab monotony of the new rule of money-bags miscalled democracy.
1960 G. Wright France in Mod. Times i. vii. 104 It was the duty of Frenchmen to speed the Continent's evolution by their benevolent rule.
2008 Church Times 15 Feb. 10/1 Changes to the national flag of Iraq..were intended to help silence echoes of the brutal Ba'athist rule of Saddam Hussein.
b. With possessive adjective or of, specifying the person or thing being ruled.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > [noun]
onwaldeOE
wissingc1000
governc1300
shield1338
governaila1382
governancec1384
hierarchy1390
regimenta1393
rulea1393
rulec1405
governationc1410
leadingc1430
governmentc1450
gubernance1455
domination1490
moderation1526
governancy1540
ditiona1552
ruledom1553
rectory1572
sway1586
diocese1596
raj1857
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 2256 The londes reule upon him stod.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 71 Þe heed haþ þe cure & reule of al þe body [L. caput totius corporis curas gerit].
1432 in Paston Lett. (1904) II. 34 For the goode reule, demesnyng and seuretee of the Kynges persone.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 621 I pray o[f] you gyff me leve to have the rule of youre oste.
1504 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1504 §3. m. 4 Havyng wythin the seid towne of Calays the rule and guydyng of his maisters goodes and merchaundyse.
1539 in D. H. Fleming Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1921) II. 457/2 [The] rewle and administratioun of the said abbay.
1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor i. iii. 47 The report goes, she hath all the rule Of her husbands purse.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 582 The Serpent, whom they calld Ophion with Eurynome,..had first the rule Of high Olympus. View more context for this quotation
1758 R. Griffiths Descr. Thames 106 In the Year 1448, an Act..was made, whereby the Mayor of London was to have the Rule of the River of Thames.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 70 They aimed at the rule, not at the destruction of their country. View more context for this quotation
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) IV. 69 The rule of the conquered land was entrusted to William Fitz-Osbern.
1908 Public 8 Dec. 857/1 Exclusive male suffrage is the predominance of sex; it is the rule of women by men.
1951 J. R. R. Tolkien Lett. (1995) 148 Middle-earth, the land of their birth but long under the rule of the Enemy.
1998 A. Dalby Dict. Langs. 264/1 Ilocano..was naturally one of the first languages in which the United States Army, newly charged with the rule of the Philippines, took an interest.
c. Without construction.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > [noun]
onwaldeOE
wissingc1000
governc1300
shield1338
governaila1382
governancec1384
hierarchy1390
regimenta1393
rulea1393
rulec1405
governationc1410
leadingc1430
governmentc1450
gubernance1455
domination1490
moderation1526
governancy1540
ditiona1552
ruledom1553
rectory1572
sway1586
diocese1596
raj1857
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §143 Iob seith þt in helle is noon ordre of rewle.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 248 (MED) Þer þe son hathe a reule, or a maistershupp..abown þe fadur, þer it is semand þat þe father suffer þe son to hafe a prioritie.
1462 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 279 Suche extorsyon..as hathe be do by suche as hathe had the rewyll.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 1275 (MED) Ye know well a rewle haue I [sc. Nature] must Withyn Macrocosme.
1557 Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 466 In all places of cyvile rule and regiment.
1653 T. Gataker Vindic. Annot. Jer. 10.2 116 To exercise and execute that rule or regiment, whereunto they have assigned them.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 301 His fair large Front and Eye sublime declar'd Absolute rule . View more context for this quotation
1726 J. Dyer Grongar Hill in New Misc. 86 A little Rule, a little Sway,..The World's a Caravansary.
1762 Scots Mag. Feb. 73/2 A prince, thus formed for rule, can scarce be thought so imprudent, as to deprive his subjects and himself of constitutional advantages.
1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. Introd. 301 Power laid his rod of rule aside.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 147 The woman's power is for rule, not for battle.
1920 J. Spargo ‘Greatest Failure in all Hist.’ xii. 353 They have set up a tyrannical rule over the proletariat, together with the rest of the population.
1941 M. E. Townsend et al. European Colonial Expansion ii. ix. 188 In the rest of British Africa, two other types of rule prevail: the direct or crown-colony system, and the indirect or protectorate method.
2009 P. Herriot Relig. Fundamentalism vi. 175 This combination of beliefs: that God is in control, in our lives and in the world, and that the Bible tells us how He will exercise that rule in the future.
III. Concrete senses.† 15. † 16. A straight line drawn on paper; spec. one of the lines of a stave of music. Obsolete (rare in later use).
13. † b. figurative with reference to careful measurement or calculation. Obsolete except as in Phrases 1e.
a. A straight-edged rectangle, square, or (formerly) cylinder of metal, wood, plastic, or some other material, typically marked at regular intervals and used to draw straight lines or measure distances; a ruler. Also as a mass noun.In quot. c1400: the alidade or index of an astrolabe.batter-rule, plumb rule, slide rule, etc.: see the first element.Frequently coupled with line, measure, or square.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for measuring length > graduated strip of wood, etc.
rule1340
ruler1530
measure1555
scale1607
foot-rule1662
two-foot rule1664
joint-rule1680
inch-rule1850
inch-measure1851
stationer's rule1866
contraction-rule1874
measure-strip1887
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [noun] > with ruler > ruler
reghel-stickOE
rule1340
rulera1382
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 150 (MED) Þe maister of workes..deþ al to wylle and to þe line and to þe reule and to þe leade and to þe leuele.
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 24 (MED) Draw thanne by thi rewle a lyne fro the hed of aries to the hed of libra.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Brussels) (1940) i. §13. f. 79 Thanne hastow a brood rule that hath on either ende a squar plate perced with certeyn hooles.
1412 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 351 (MED) Pro levells, squares, et reules, 20 d.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. xv. 9 Sum bene mair crafty..With rewlis and with mesouris..For til excers the art of geometry.
1559 W. Bavand tr. J. Ferrarius Common Weale v. f. 90v Painters, Imagemakers, Masons, Brasiers, Carpenters, and all soche as will trie their worke by Compas, Rule, Line or any other certain measure.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. i. 7 Where is thy Leather Apron, and thy Rule ? View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 21 A Sharke..nine Foot long and a halfe by rule.
1682 A. Martindale Countrey-surv.-bk. xiv. 87 Then shall Lines drawn by a straight Rule from prick to prick, give you the perfect plot upon your paper.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 41 Keeping one end of the Rule close to the Centre.., lay the other end of the Rule close to the Prick that you made on the line CD.
1788 Trans. Soc. Arts 6 191 A small Brass Rule..divided into quarters of an inch.
1833 H. Martineau Messrs. Vanderput & Snoek ii. 25 You see that short man smoking with the rule in his hand.
1860 J. Sherman in Mem. (1863) 23 The birch, the rule, the cane, were unsparingly used.
1919 Proc. Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers 45 113 A wooden rule, 1ft. long, is attached by the side of the tape to read the fractions of feet.
1942 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 152/2 A steel rule is commonly employed for setting outside calipers.
2002 D. Clemson & W. Clemson Meas., Shape & Space: 5 116 Use a centimetre rule. Draw squares of 1 cm to fill each rectangle.
ΚΠ
c1450 (?a1402) J. Trevisa De Regimine Principum (Digby 233) (1997) iii. ii. xxix. 378 Dedes of mankynde mowe not be mete and imesured with a rewle þat may not faille noþer bende as wiþ a rewle of yre.
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities f. viiv We handlynge throughly euery thynge by it selfe, dydde trie them euen as you wolde saye, by lyne and rule.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus iii. f. 45 For in sic luif is nother reull nor squair, Bot blindit lufe.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. ii. 135 Stubborne Critiques apt..to square the generall sex By Cresseids rule . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. iii. 7 I haue not kept my square, but that to come Shall all be done by th' Rule . View more context for this quotation
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 72 With those that are deare unto mee, I neither observe Rule nor Measure.
?1750 in A. Pennecuik Compl. Coll. Poems i. 62 A Gauger, never can be call'd a Fool, Since he doth all his Actions by the Rule.
1828 W. Sotheby Italy & Other Poems 240 Where senseless force misrules at pleasure, No form comes forth in rule and measure.
c. Astronomy. With the and capital initial. (The English name of) the constellation Norma. Chiefly as a conscious translation.
ΚΠ
1811 D. Brewster Ferguson's Astron. (new ed.) I. xx. 424 (table) Norma..the Rule.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 274/2 Norma, the Rule, a constellation of Lacaille.
1903 J. E. Gore Stellar Heavens 116/2 Norma, the Rule.
2007 M. M. Knocke Little Giant Bk. Astron. 295 Norma, the Rule. The faint stars of this constellation are supposed to look something like an old-fashioned slide rule.
14. † a. An ingot, esp. one made of gold. Obsolete.† b. Architecture. = reglet n. 3. Obsolete.† c. poetic and literary. A shaft or beam of light. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > precious metal > [noun] > gold > lump or bar of gold
rulea1382
tongue1535
grain1613
gold bar1713
gold brick1820
lob1825
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Josh. vii. 21 Among þe spulys afol good red mantel..& agoldyn rule [L. regula] of fifty ciclis.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 11369 (MED) A rolle [Fr. reule] of gold And sylver he hydde undyr molde.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) ii. l. 1082 Achor als þe mantil stal, Þe siluir and þe rewel wiþe all.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > other elements > [noun] > fillet
fillet1473
rule1563
listel1598
reglet1664
1563 J. Shute First Groundes Archit. sig. Di Astragalus & his rule occupieth .1. part, the which rule is half the height of Astragalus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > [noun] > ray or beam
beamc885
rowc1225
stringc1275
steamc1300
light beama1398
shafta1400
rayc1400
strakec1400
rade?a1563
gleed1566
radiation1570
shine1581
rayon1591
stralla1618
radius1620
rule1637
irradiation1643
track1693
emanation1700
spoke1849
spearc1850
slant1856
sword1866
secondary1921
1637 J. Milton Comus 12 Some gentle taper..Visit us With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light.
1747 T. Warton Pleasures of Melancholy 5 Thro' some western window the pale moon Pours her long-levell'd rule of streaming light.
1885 A. Leighton Wilson's Tales Borders 24 The morning sun..found entrance, in a square slanting rule of yellow light.
d. Plastering. = screed n.1 4a.floating rule: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > [noun] > bricklaying and plastering > plastering > strip to guide in obtaining even surface
rule1812
screed1812
1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 308 Floating Skreeds differ from cornice skreeds in this, that the former is a strip of plaster, and the latter wooden rules for running the cornice.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 176/1 The second coat..is laid on..with the floting trowel, and floted to a straight, level surface, with rules of various lengths.
1915 W. N. Twelvetrees Rivington's Notes Building Constr. (new ed.) ix. 162 Rules or battens are now fixed on the ceiling and wall to guide the zinc mould.
1988 D.I.Y. Success! 4 4/1 When the plaster's been applied to one bay it's smoothed off level with them using a timber straight edge called a ‘rule’.
2007 B. F. Pegg & W. D. Stagg Plastering (ed. 4) 102 Horizontal crossmembers that project below the surface of the ceiling may be plastered with or without rules.
a. A list; a line or row. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row
reweOE
rowc1225
ranka1325
rengec1330
ordera1382
rulec1384
rangea1450
ray1481
line1557
tier1569
train1610
string1713
rail1776
windrow1948
c1384 Table of Lessons in Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (1850) 683 Here bigynneth a rule, that tellith in whiche chapitris of the bible ȝe mai fynde the lessouns.
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 4 (MED) Euery of þese figuris bitokens hym selfe & no more, yf he stonde in þe first place of þe rewele..If it stonde in the secunde place of þe rewle, he betokens tene tymes hym selfe.
b. As a mass noun: array, order, line. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun]
arraya1375
rulea1393
rank1567
arrayment1875
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 1051 (MED) Cancer after the reule and space Of Signes halt the ferthe place.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iv. 526 (MED) Longe on the tre they [sc. medlars] wol endure; Ek they in picchid pottis kept ar sure. Suspence in rewle [L. ordinem], hem kepe with pusk condite.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 1191 Sir Launcelottis felyshyp com oute at the three gatis in full good aray..they cam in order and rule as full noble knyghtes.
1503–4 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 420 To ane man that lukit the pailȝonis and dryit thaim and laid them in reul.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. vi. 176 Thai leifis remainis onsterit of thair place, Ne partis nocht furth of reule.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [noun] > other lines
linea1382
rulec1475
stroke1567
trig1648
ductor1658
style1690
pencil line1758
guideline1785
section-line1827
subhorizon1829
broken line1937
wiggle1942
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > stave > lines of stave
rulec1475
line1602
ledger line1697
c1475 Court of Sapience (Trin. Cambr.) (1927) 2074 (MED) Mynute, crochet, in rewle and eke in space, All thys she [sc. Dame Musica] taught.
1562 T. Sternhold et al. Whole Bk. Psalmes sig. ✠iiiv Some of the kayes be set in lines or rules, and other are set in spaces betwene the lines.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 3 A Cliefe is a charecter set on a rule at the beginning of a verse.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. iv. 33 Cause them to haue each his ruling pen,..that they may rule their rules meete of the same compasse with their copies.
1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick i. 2 Seven Letters of the Alphabet, which are set at the beginning of each Rule and Space.
1903 Trans. Lancs. & Cheshire Antiquarian Soc. 21 184 He laid great stress on..knowing the notes' places by distinguishing the rules and spaces.
17. Typography. Frequently in brass rule.
a. A thin strip of metal, usually brass, used for separating headings, columns of type, articles, etc., and to ornament text; a dash or line printed with such a strip. In later use also: any straight printed line.dash-, en, swell rule, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > [noun] > metal strip for separating columns, etc.
rule1683
swell-rule-
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 18 He also provides Brass Rules of about Sixteen Inches long, that the Compositor may cut them into such Lengths as his Work requires.
1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 93 Full-points serve instead of Rules, in work of Accounts, to lead and to connect the posted Article with its contingent valuation.
1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. 67 Rules are of three descriptions, viz. brass, metal, or space rules.
1855 A. Wynter Curiosities of Civilisation 48 The partition of a thin rule suffices to separate a call for the loan of millions from the..cry of the destitute gentlewoman.
1892 A. Oldfield Pract. Man. Typogr. i. 14 If rules are kept in standard sizes,..very little rule-cutting need be done.
1940 M. L. Parrish Wilkie Collins & Charles Reade 219 Binding: Original pinkish-tan paper wrappers, the front wrapper printed with two double rules.
1973 Univ. of Stirling Press Room (Univ. of Stirling Library) The Press Room contains a large assortment of printing types, jobbing cases, galleys, chases, composing sticks, rules and leads.
2000 R. Goldberg Digital Typogr. iii. 82 For underscoring you want the baseline rule, which aligns at the baseline of the font.
b. A strip of metal used to keep type level and in place during setting or printing; = composing-rule n. at composing n. Compounds. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [noun] > setting-rule
rule1683
setting-rule1770
society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [noun] > spacing material
reglet1636
space1676
headstick1683
quadrat1683
quotation1683
rule1683
space1683
quadc1781
spacer1857
mutton1938
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 214 This Rule is very commodious to Work with, because the Letter slides easier.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Printing Taking the Rule from behind the last Line, he places it before it.
1754 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III. 2543/1 Before the compositor proceeds to compose, he puts a rule, or thin slip of brass-plate..in the composing stick, against the ledge, for the letter to bear against.
1833 London Lit. Gaz. 28 Sept. 614/1 Instant into his stick the letters come, Touch'd by his two fore-fingers and his thumb. The rule receives them with a brazen grin, And wonders how so fast they tumble in!
1892 A. Oldfield Pract. Man. Typogr. i. 13 The notch at the back part of the rule allows of its being drawn out without so much being cut away at the fore edge of the rule.
1919 A. A. Stewart Typesetting 24 Sets of these rules can be purchased from supply houses or they may be made from a discarded strip of brass rule.
1929 C. L. Allen Journalist's Man. Printing vii. 78 Some sticks are still found which are not graduated. These must be ‘made up’ by placing a rule or slug known to be the correct measure, in the stick.
1950 Theory & Pract. Composition (U.S. Govt. Printing Office) 71 Rules, in contrast to leads and slugs,..make lines on the printed page... In display work rules are used for borders.
c. As a mass noun: strips of metal (in sense 17a) considered collectively or as a material.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > type founding > type-founding equipment > [noun] > brass rule as material
brass rule1770
1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 282 They may be counted valuable Sorts.., considering that they..save Brass rule.
1880 Paper & Printing Trades Jrnl. No. 32. 40 The groundwork of the design is a fan, made up in brass rule to the correct shape.
1893 Amer. Bookmaker Aug. 40/1 Here is some of the rule used as border around one of their advertising pages.
1946 A. Monkman in H. Whetton Pract. Printing iv. 56/2 A piece of rule, about 6 points thick and 24 points long, is placed between the first and last pages (or spine) of each section.
1975 M. M. Banister Bookbinding as Handcraft xiv. 142/1 The press board must be large enough to cover not only the type form but also the ‘rails’ of 12-point rule on either side.
IV. Senses relating to standards, axioms, or methods.
18. A standard of discrimination or estimation; a criterion, test, or measure. In early use also as a mass noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [noun] > criterion
rulec1384
meteyard?1531
touchstone?1531
plumb line1551
plummet1553
metewanda1568
touch1581
stone of touch1604
criterion1622
scale1626
criteriuma1631
measure1641
judge1642
criterie1660
foot-rule1662
mark1765
point of reference1772
metera1825
reference point1849
yardstick1869
benchmark1884
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. x. 13 Sothli we schulden not glorie into ful moche, but vp the mesure of reule [L. secundum mensuram regulae] bi which God mesuride to vs, the mesure of strecchinge til to ȝou.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 112 The vertues cardinalis..ar..ledaris and gouernouris, and reule of all vertues and gude thewis.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. dv It discerneth or iudgeth, nat onely..temporall thynges, but also the eternall,..and that by the rules of grace, farre aboue all naturall reason.
1580 G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. in Wks. (1884) I. 103 We are..authorised by the..Maiestie of our speach: which I accounte the only infallible and souueraine Rule of all Rules.
1638 W. Rawley tr. F. Bacon Hist. Nat. & Exper. Life & Death 72 To finde out a Rule touching Length, and Shortnesse, of Life, in Living Creatures, is very difficult.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xxviii. 498 If the workmans hand were the rule of his work, it were impossible he should ever err in working.
1723 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. I. i. xxxii. 253 Having often observed, that an Object appears more confused the further it is distant from us, we make this a Rule of determining the Distances of Bodies.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 169 A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule.
1820 R. Southey Life Wesley I. 265 A determination to allow no other rule of faith or practice than the Scriptures.
1884 Law Times Rep. 50 196/2 There can be no hard and fast rule by which to construe..commercial agreements.
1931 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 41 222 Right means correctness according to some standard, rule or sanction.
1950 E. H. Gombrich Story of Art xxiii. 346 The rule of taste in the England of Lord Burlington and Alexander Pope was also the rule of reason.
2006 P. Jones Stolen Identity vii. 118 God himself is the rule by which all are judged.
19.
a. An axiom or law describing a feature of the natural world or of a particular branch of study; a principle prescribing a procedure or method to be observed in the pursuit or study of some art or science.In quot. 1644: a set of such principles considered collectively.See also rule of thumb n. and adj.McNaghten rules: see the first element.rule of coss, rule of falsehood, rule of fellowship, rule of (false) position, rule of proportion, etc.: see the final element.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > regulation > a regulation or rule > of technical or scientific treatment
rulea1387
precept1552
canon1588
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [noun] > mathematical enquiry > process of calculating > method or rule for
rulea1387
canonc1400
backer1543
position1551
rule of falsehood1552
rule of three1562
method of exhaustions1685
sieve1803
sieve of Eratosthenes1803
algorithm1811
algorism1888
sieve1897
decision procedure1936
pivotal condensation1939
decision method1940
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 251 (MED) Permenides..byþouȝt hym of þe art of logik..Plato afterward..fonde þerynne meny principles and rules [L. principia et regulas].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 71 (MED) He..hadde wiþ hym Constantyn..to hym he made and ȝaf a rule of abacus [L. regulam de abaco].
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 20 (MED) This rewle is general for alle planetis.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Brussels) (1940) Introd. f. 76 An introductorie..in whiche thow mayst lerne a grete part of the general rules of theorik in astrologie.
a1450 Musical Treat. in Speculum (1935) 10 268 Thus ouer-passid þe rwlis of proporcions & of their denominacions.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 113 (MED) Now y stable to þe reules of þis science of Phisonomy.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. xi. f. 15 You must worke the first or second question, sometimes by the rule reuerse.
1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 6 Ornate Rhetorick taught out of the rule of Plato, Aristotle [etc.].
1695 J. Dryden in tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica Pref. p. i One who perfectly understood the Rules of Painting.
1726 I. Watts Logick (ed. 2) i. vi. 105 These two Rules being observ'd, will always render a Definition reciprocal with the Thing defined.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. App. at Whist By Mr. de Moivre's rules it will be found, that the total of the chances for the dealer = 92770723800.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 256 [This] May prove, though much beside the rules of art, Best for the public.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I cxx. 63 I have a high sense Of Aristotle and the Rules.
a1831 R. Whately Rhetoric in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 263 Hence arises another Rule,..that in order effectually to excite feelings of any kind, it is necessary to employ some copiousness of detail.
1872 J. Ruskin Eagle's Nest §93 We now build in our villages, by the rules of the Academy of London.
1922 Bull. Pharmacy June 262/1 Please publish a rule for determining the amount of a medicine that should be given a child.
1940 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 26 54 The rule states that for the production of a fixed quantity of photochemical charge the product of intensity and exposure time is constant.
1978 Jrnl. Res. Math. Educ. 9 324 The shortest and most effective reasoning method involves..an application of very simple arithmetical rules (e.g., that X + X yields an even sum).
2004 New Yorker 16 Feb. 122/1 A group of romantic poets who eschewed the rigid rules of classical Chinese verse.
b. Grammar. A principle governing a regular feature of a language, esp. (in early use) the form or position of words in a sentence. In later use also Linguistics: any one of a system of statements that can be formulated in such a way that together they describe all the features of a language.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > [noun] > grammatical rule or principle
rulea1425
grammaticism1610
a1425 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Cambr. Ff.5.35) (1873) C. iv. l. 363 (MED) Þus suweþ relacioun rect..rewle of sustentyuus.
c1450–4 W. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 151 The ij rewle is þis, þat þere byn many wordis wretyn at the last ynd with an z, and oder with j s... Þe 1 sownit not be-cause an m folowyt here; and this is a general rewle.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 44 (MED) He myght vndirstande the rewlis of gramer.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 304 Here endeth the rules of the nowne adjectyve.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 97 An Emperor..being reproued for that he spake contrarie to the rules of Grammer.
a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. xiv, in Wks. (1640) III We say not childen, which according to the Rule given before, is the right formation; but childern.
1693 C. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires vii. 141 Be sure he knows exactly Grammar Rules.
1737 Gentleman's Mag. June 329/1 The Translators had more regard to St. Stephen's Words,..than to any Grammar Rule.
1794 G. Chalmers Life T. Ruddiman 93 The four masters..should select from Ruddiman's Grammar, such rules..as they should think necessary to be taught in their several classes.
1832 S. B. Emmons Grammatical Instructer 85 Rule: ‘The nominative case governs the verb in number and person.’
1878 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 397/1 Confusion and loss of old inflexions, and their replacement by prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and rules of position.
1914 P. S. Allen First German Composition 45 This rule of dependent order covers all sentences introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
1976 Word 27 257 Phrase-structure rules generate the deep-structure b-sequence from which the well-formed a-sequence is derived by transformation rules.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 May 4/2 Noam Chomsky's conception of our ‘tacit’..and innate knowledge of the rules of grammar.
c. Also with capital initial. A particular principle or procedure qualified by the name of the person who discovered or expounded it.Some early examples may not represent fixed collocations.Allen's, Markovnikov's, Fleming's right-hand rule, etc.: see the first element.rule of Prägnanz: see the final element.
ΚΠ
1651 R. Whitehall Τέχνηπολιμογαμία sig. A3 The sweat Of either sex added to July's heat (Corrected) might such Atoms get, such Men, (By Plato's rule) as Oedipus agen.
1730 C. MacLaurin Def. Let. 13 Sir Isaac Newton's Rule directs to try if 4 B² exceeds 9 AC.
1760 W. S. Powell Def. Observ. 14 To find the high powers of the roots of equations having many terms by Newton's rule, is perhaps somewhat tedious.
1859 I. Todhunter Spherical Trigonom. v. 37 It has been sometimes stated that the method of the preceding article is the only one by which Napier's Rules can be proved.
1867 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) III. 320/2 The rule known in the theory of equations as Descartes' Rule of Signs.
1920 Amer. Med. June 342/1 The great value of McKesson's rule for determining shock during operation.
1959 W. E. Lambert & S. Fillenbaum in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 455/1 Cases have been reported which support the ‘rule of Ribot’..which states that linguistic habits acquired early..are more resistant to aphasic damage than those acquired subsequently.
2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xix. 213 Tammann's Rules are useful in choosing annealing temperatures for sintering or for microstructural homogenization.
20. A fact, or the statement of a fact, which is usually true; the normal or usual state of things. See also as a rule at Phrases 1h.the exception proves the rule and variants: see exception n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun] > that which generally holds good
rulea1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 29177 (MED) If vr penance sett for vr sake Als for a reule þis sal þou take, þat for spusbreking and manath..þat sal haue scrifte of seuen yere.
?c1425 (c1390) G. Chaucer Fortune (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1879) l. 56 Wikke appetyt comth ay before sykenesse In general this rewle may nat fayle.
1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. tt.iiv Truly it is a generall rule whan a synne ones purposed by consent in our mynde is deedly, what soeuer we doo for the accomplysshement of the same is also deedly synne.
?1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce f. 107v The olde rule: he that is once a false knaue, it is maruell if euer he be honest man after.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iii. xxiv. 153 Egypt was an exception from the rules of all other countreys.
1664 G. Havers tr. T. Renaudot et al. Gen. Coll. Disc. Virtuosi France c. 579 Even when Nature acts regularly, we cannot but be more at a loss in the..coupling of sexes, which are deviations from the rule of Nature.
1743 H. Fielding Ess. Conversat. in Misc. I. 122 It would by no means impeach the general Rule of Man's being a social Animal.
1780 Mirror No. 82 They consider..that their virtues and good qualities are only exceptions from the general rule.
1842 A. J. Christie in Fleury's Eccl. Hist. I. 137 The Oblation was, as the rule, made in the morning.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xix. 425 The possession of the gift throughout the Christian community was the rule, and not the exception.
1883 W. R. Morfill Slavonic Lit. i. 15 As we might expect, from the rule that the dialects of a language are truer to its spirit than the literary form.
1919 F. E. Leavitt Operations of Obstetr. iii. 55 When the retroflexed uterus becomes pregnant, the rule is that it will right itself at about the third month.
1967 A. J. Toynbee Between Maule & Amazon 61 Beyond the line, the desert is the rule, and the patches of cultivation and pastureland are the exceptions.
1996 H. K. Smith Events leading up to my Death lxii. 294 I was sad to discover that cold, unheated bathrooms were the rule.
21. U.S. regional (chiefly New England). A recipe. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cookery-book > [noun] > recipe
receipt1595
recipe1631
formula1706
nostrum1742
rule1864
1864 Rubina xviii. 207 I run up hum' to Sary Purse'es, and she giv' me her rule for plum-cake.
1936 D. T. Lutes Country Kitchen 148 I wisht you'd give me the rule for 'em [sc. sour cream cookies].
1999 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 21 July I supposed it was a recipe known only to the pre-1900 women of my family—except they would have called it a ‘rule’.
22. Computing. A conditional statement that controls the behaviour of a system in a particular situation.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > control structure > types of
loop1947
rule1950
switch1951
nest1963
1950 A. M. Turing in Mind 59 458 The idea of a learning machine may appear paradoxical to some readers. How can the rules of operation of the machine change?
1977 Artific. Intelligence 9 135 We present a rule-based system for computer-aided circuit analysis. The set of rules, called EL, is written in a rule language called ARS.
1992 New Scientist 18 Jan. 33/1 It's computer generated by Aaron, a program consisting of a few hundred rules on artistic style.
2008 R. Teeter & K. Barksdale Google Apps for Dummies v. 74 If the messages matches a rule, then Gmail performs an action with the message, such as starring or deleting it.
Phrases
P1. † a. out of rule.† b. to set (also put) in rule: to put in order; to set in line. Obsolete.† d. to have one's own rule: to be one's own master; to have one's way. Obsolete.† i. on rule: allowed to live within the rules of a prison. See sense 6a. Obsolete.
(a) In sense 11: in an irregular or disordered state; out of line or order. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > in disorder [phrase]
at or on six and sevenOE
out of kinda1375
out of rulea1387
out of tonea1400
out of joint1415
out of nockc1520
out of tracea1529
out of order1530
out of tune1535
out of square1555
out of kilter1582
off the hinges?1608
out of (the) hinges?1608
in, out of gear1814
out of gearing1833
off the rails1848
on the bumc1870
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > unruly [phrase] > out of control
out of ward?c1225
out of rulea1387
out of order1530
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 191 (MED) He torned to þe citee þat hatte ciuitas Crotoniorum, þat was al out of rule [L. moribus omnino resolutam]..and tauȝte þere vertues.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. 803 Thei hemself divide And stonden out of reule unevene.
a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 71 (MED) By þese poyntes fflaundres was lest; Now is it out of rule and of rest.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 56 (MED) Disordinaunce hath suche a wise putt polecy owt of reule that princes take their preve eases..wheras thei shulde travaile for the comon wele.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5678 Out of rule or aray raungit on lenght.
1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) at Line Line crokedly wrytten, and out of rule.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 41 So long as out of limit and true rule You stand against annointed Maiestie. View more context for this quotation
a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 39 All things at home, under his Government, were out of rule and order.
(b) In sense 3a: contrary to custom or convention. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > standard of conduct [phrase] > not
out of rule1685
off the wall1966
1685 C. Cotton tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. III. ix. 333 I never stick at giving, or taking place out of Rule [Fr. iniquement], to avoid the trouble of Ceremony.
1758 Coll. Poems Several Hands VI. 230 Good madam, when ladies are willing, A man must needs look like a fool; For me I wou'd not give a shilling For one that is kind out of rule.
1796 C. Smith Marchmont I. 141 Lady Dacres either did not or would not see how very much the conduct of her visitor was out of rule.
a1817 J. Austen Watsons in Wks. (1954) VI. 340 As to Mrs. Edwardes' carriage being used the day after a Ball, it is a thing quite out of rule, I assure you.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert iv, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. III. 77 More modern taste.., by mixing the various orders, had produced such as were either composite, or totally out of rule.
1852 A. Boyd Delameres of Delamere Court II. xvii. 307 An English woman would never do any thing so out of rule.
1890 G. Meredith Let. 1 Jan. (1912) II. 433 Would it be out of rule and blushless for me to write to the Committee?
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > put in (proper) order [verb (transitive)]
rightlOE
attire1330
ettlea1350
to set (also put) in rulea1387
redress1389
dress?a1400
fettlea1400
governc1405
yraylle1426
direct1509
settlec1530
tune1530
instruct1534
rede1545
commodate1595
square1596
concinnate1601
concinnea1620
rectify1655
fix1663
to put (also bring) into repair1673
arrange1802
pipeclay1806
to get together1810
to do up1886
to jack up1939
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 17 Þat is in oþer bookes..is i-putte togidre in rule and in ordre [L. lineamentaliter concorporatis].
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 264 (MED) Þei sette in rule þe liif of hem þat lyuen vnreuly.
c1450 (c1425) Brut (Cambr. Kk.1.12) 391 Þe King..restyd hym yn the Castell tylle þe toun were sette yn rewle and gouernawnce.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts viii. f. xxxv Here was nothing done by chaunce, god did sette al in rule and order.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶3 It hath byn thought best by all the musytions, to set them in rule.
c. by (also to, from, according to) rule: in accordance with regulations, conventions, or a prescribed method.work to rule: see work v. Phrases 14b.
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c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. i. 22 (MED) Heore nomes beþ neodful and nempnen hem I þenke, Bi Rule and bi Resun Rehersen hem her-aftur.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 10316 How be reason, or right, or rewle, may þou preue To deme hym so doghty in dedys of armys?
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 768 Good order through continuance of time had planted such a warlike discipline, that nothing was doone among them but by rule.
1630 T. Taylor Progresse of Saints 86 Christianity is no ranging course, or a running at randome, but a life led by rule.
c1718 M. Prior Paulo Purganti 16 The picture wrought exact to rule, exempt from fault.
1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 189 Rufillus, exquisitely form'd by rule,..Wonders at Clodio's follies.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 219 No being acts more rigidly from rule than the Indian.
1870 J. H. Newman Ess. Gram. Assent ii. viii. 279 They speak by rule and by book, though they judge and determine by common-sense.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xviii. 169 Something about Miss Jones's dress was not according to rule.
1918 R. J. C. Stead Cow Puncher iii. 47 She would have to go back to the city, and talk by rule, and dress by rule, and behave by rule, and be correct.
1957 in R. S. Sayers Central Banking after Bagehot i. 1 The central banker is the man who exercises his discretion, not the machine that works according to rule.
1990 Match Fishing Feb. 20/2 Often a match angler will go on the bank and fish to rule.
1991 J. L. Casti Searching for Certainty (1992) i. 28 Scientific explanation and prediction is explanation and prediction by rule, or, as it's sometimes put, by law.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > independence > be independent [verb (intransitive)]
to have one's own rulea1393
to be one's own man (also woman, person)a1425
to be one's own master?1510
to stand on one's own bottom1564
to sit loose1591
independa1657
to paddle one's own canoe1828
to go it alone1842
to run one's own show1892
to go one's (own) gait1922
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 1169 (MED) Witt and resoun counseilen..that I scholde will remue..For..if that he mote His oghne rewle have upon honde, Ther schal no witt ben understonde.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 11 He wolde not be governyd by the bargemen, but to have hys owne rewle.
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. St. Paule to Galathians xliii. f. 326v Euery man then woulde haue his owne rule alone by himself.
e. figurative phrases in sense 13a. Now rare.† (c) † rule-and-line adj. characterized by careful calculation; rigid, strict. Obsolete.
(a) by (the) rule and line (also measure, square): with careful calculation; rigidly, strictly. [Originally after Middle French a ligne et reigle (mid 14th cent. in the passage translated in quot. a1475).]
ΚΠ
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 23470 (MED) Thyng that is maad by rule and lyne [Fr. a ligne et reigle]..hath more beaute..and mor stabilite.
1598 T. James tr. G. Du Vair Moral Philos. Stoicks 195 You must liue by rule and square [Fr. de regle].
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Reigleure,..a proceeding by rule and line.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 72 He..professes to do every thing by Rule and Measure.
1797 Encycl. Brit. II. 248/1 Whether we take this method, or begin upon the naked floor, all must be laid with the most exact truth by rule and line.
1842 Art-union July 168/3 He may (being an architect) judge more by rule and square, more, in short, from skill and study, than from sentiment and feeling.
1864 J. H. Newman Apologia iii. 89 The process of change had been slow; it had been done not rashly, but by rule and measure.
1904 Ohio State Med. Assoc. Trans. 59th Ann. Meeting 191 Our work is more by the rule and square and not differentiation.
1966 N. Yuasa in tr. M. Bashō Narrow Road to Deep North 16 He did everything so consciously, so calculatingly: almost by rule and measure.
(b) rule and line (also measure, square): a standard against which something may be gauged, determined, or regulated.
ΚΠ
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities f. 13 Hit semed to vs conuenient to folowe, as a certayne rule and lyne [L. ueluti regulam, et amussim quandam sequi]..the wytnesse of reason and nature.
1549 E. Allen tr. L. Juda Paraphr. Reuelacion S. John f. 9, in M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II As the Christen religion shalbe restored and reformed after the rule and square of holy scripture.
1615 J. Ainsworth Trying out of Truth 17 They [sc. the Scriptures] are of God; and if from him, then are they canonical, the rule and mesure of our faith and actions.
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 59 Moneys were inuented and made by common consent to be the rule and square to set a price vnto all things.
1703 Athenian Oracle II. 246/2 That laudable Disposition, which is the Rule and Square of all others.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. xxx. 113 If our scanty Experience were made the rule and measure of Truth.
1824 Christian Observer Sept. 542/2 Are we to be surprised that the word of God will not submit to the rule and square of human systems?
1894 L. J. Wylie Stud. Evol. Eng. Crit. i. 42 The average genius of the age..could measure them [sc. English writers] by no other standard than the rule and line of the French or of the ancients.
1915 Pacific Reporter 143 732/1 Legitimate recoupment for fraud under a rule and measure thoroughly well settled.
1985 J. C. Jacobs in tr. Fables of Odo of Cheriton 169 In Odo's fables, creatures biblically destined to be ruled by Man..provide the rule and measure by which human actions are judged.
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1843 G. L. Craik & C. Macfarlane Pict. Hist. Eng. III. ii. i. 28/1 Abbé Sièyes himself was not a greater formalist, or more given to rule and line work.
1859 Gentleman's Mag. June 649/1 Professor of Drawing to the Military Academy at West Point, a post which required not genius, but mere rule and line exactitude.
1887 G. Saintsbury Hist. Elizabethan Lit. xi. 409 He showed..a tendency towards a severe rule-and-line form both of tragic scheme and of tragic versification.
1908 A. Ruhl Other Americans xi. 192 Whatever answered to him for the rule-and-line man's work or profession seemed something wholly casual.
f. to bend (also stretch) the rules: to interpret the rules leniently; to overlook or allow an infringement of the rules.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of strictness > lessen in strictness or severity [verb (transitive)] > relax (rules)
to dispense withc1380
excuse1646
waivea1665
to bend (also stretch) the rules1689
1689 R. Atkyns Enq. Power Dispensing with Penal Statutes 36 Let us not..approve of all things, tho' delivered by Authors of greatest Name, for they often serve the Times, or their Affections, and bend the Rules as occasion requires.
1723 tr. J. C. A. Helvétius Ess. Animal Oecon. Pref. p. iv Various Occasions present themselves, wherein we are obliged to bend these Rules, to enlarge their Sense and Meaning.
1845 Rep. Supreme Courts Scotl. 17 500/1 We cannot, however, stretch the rules by which we interpret the requisites of the statute.
1879 Donahoe's Mag. Apr. 359/2 Even if the trade rules were unyielding, and more against than for the workmen, then they must endeavor and stretch the rules as far as they could.
1905 Cosmopolitan Mag. Oct. 664/1 The other women chatted a little at their work—bending the rules but not breaking them.
1973 Times 2 Nov. 5/7 Trying to get other members of the European Community to ‘bend the rules’ so that exports can be resumed.
1977 ‘O. Jacks’ Autumn Heroes ii. 37 He bent over backwards to be straight in all his dealings... He wouldn't stretch the rules.
1999 XCity (Dept. of Journalism, City Univ., London) Mar. 9/3 What's the most outrageous bending of the rules you've witnessed?
g. to make it a rule: (with infinitive or that-clause) to have the specified practice as a habit or general principle.
ΚΠ
1697 tr. D. P. E. Hist. Amours Marshal de Boufflers 285 A Gentleman of Honour ought to take Compassion of the frailty of the Fair Sex. And if they will needs make it a rule to be inexorable upon that account towards their Mistresses.
1766 C. Anstey New Bath Guide viii. ii. 52 Industrious Creatures! that make it a Rule To secure half the Fish while they manage the Pool.
?1790 J. Imison Curious & Misc. Articles (new ed.) 74 in School of Arts (ed. 2) The student should make it a rule to save the leavings of his colours.
1833 T. Carlyle in R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits (1856) i. 9 My dame makes it a rule to give to every son of Adam bread to eat.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxiv. 215 I make it a rule never to cut the nose off my own face.
1901 B. T. Washington Up from Slavery xv. 261 I make it a rule to clear my desk every day.
1969 H. Brodkey in Stories in Almost Classical Mode (1989) 105 I had made it a rule never to touch a student.
1996 Woman's Day (Sydney) 3 June 25/2 Sir Donald made it a rule that once he got past 75 runs, he always went on to at least a century.
2009 Electronic Urban Rep. (Nexis) 10 Feb. I made it a rule that I didn't go anywhere unless they paid for my whole family to come along.
h. as a rule: normally, generally.as a general rule: see general adj. and n. Phrases 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > in habitual or customary use [phrase] > usually or ordinarily
in general1526
most times1556
of (also for, in) ordinary1556
in a general way1660
in common1819
as a rule1828
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part
for the more party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
for the more partc1405
for (the) most partc1405
much dealc1425
in substancea1450
for the mostc1531
in (also for) the generality1580
for the general1581
in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591
largely1594
principally1600
in chiefa1616
mainly1640
nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648
greatly1742
as a rule1828
1828 J. F. Cooper Notions Amer. II. xii. 271 You will perceive that, as a rule, the inferior agents of the American government are better paid than the same description of individuals in the employment of almost any other nation.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 5 As a rule, hail falls in summer.
1882 A. Jessopp in 19th Cent. Nov. 735 The masses in towns are, as a rule, destitute of faith in the unseen.
1936 Lancet 21 Mar. 653/2 In mice lesions are as a rule restricted to the central nervous system, though occasionally in the lungs there is evidence of a virus pneumonia.
1970 ‘A. Cross’ Poetic Justice ii. 36 I don't as a rule drink at lunch, but right at the moment I feel the need of what Auden calls an ‘analeptic swig’.
1997 G. Williams Diamond Geezers v. 37 Nightclubs in Illingford were, as a rule, brash, boastful places demanding attention.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [adverb] > allowed in defined areas near prison
on rule1836
1836 D. Jerrold Doves in Cage i. ii. 13 There's little of the Fleet about this suit? Tut, I mean I—I—for I feel a gaol infectious—I look not a poor devil debtor out on rule?
1841 W. M. Thackeray Great Hoggarty Diamond viii Her lodgers used commonly to be prisoners on rule from that place [sc. the Fleet].
j. rules are rules (also, humorously, rules is rules): rules must be obeyed (usually said when the rule seems irrational).
ΚΠ
1853 New Sporting Mag. July 115 As a member of the club..I ought to be bound by a committee of honourable gentlemen, whose practical ability ought not to be doubted, for—‘rules are rules’.
1920 Overland Monthly & Out West Mag. Apr. 275/2 We've got to show these youths that rules are rules.
1949 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 36 3/1 Rules are rules, and if they are to be embraced wholeheartedly and followed intelligently, they will have to be clarified to the last phrase or word.
1992 I. Pattison More Rab C. Nesbitt Scripts 13 I'm sorry Mr Nesbitt but rules are rules.
2009 Sunday Independent (Ireland) (Nexis) 26 July After all, rules is rules; and the rules said that there was to be no gargling done by anyone, full stop.
k. colloquial. to run the rule over.
(a) To examine, peruse, or investigate.In later use frequently in sporting contexts.rare in North American use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > examine medically [verb (transitive)]
searcha1425
visit1484
examine?1541
to run the rule over1909
to work up1931
society > law > law enforcement > investigation of crime > investigate crime [verb (intransitive)] > interrogate a suspect
to run the rule over1948
1865 R. H. Copperthwaite Turf & Racehorse 152 Owners..believing that, when some of the ‘stars’ of the profession had run the rule over them [sc. horses], and ‘given them the polish’, they would do wonders.
1866 R. Henderson Soldier of Three Queens II. xiii. 177 I stopped to run the rule over her. The drag was a well-built and elegant vehicle.
1909 A. N. Lyons Sixpenny Pieces xii. 90 Jes' run the rule over 'er, Doctor; will ye?
1948 Free-Lance Writer & Photographer Apr. 54/2 When a P.C. stops a suspect in the street and interrogates him, he ‘runs the rule over him’.
1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 iii. 30 Nicky was expected to run the rule over wages claims.
1985 Times 18 Oct. 21/1 Word is that Unilever has run the rule over a number of American groups.
1997 Sun 21 Aug. 55/1 The fixture gave him the chance to run the rule over Juve striker Michele Padovano again.
(b) Of a pickpocket or police officer: to search the pockets of (a person); to frisk. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > search (a person)
ransacka1325
search1474
frisk1789
to rub down1825
grope1837
to run the rule over1865
fan1927
to pat down1943
screen1951
1865 Sporting Rev. Dec. 406 We..strolled away for an hour in Highgate, well out of the reach of the pick-pockets, who ‘ran the rule’ over every likely one.
1887 J. W. Horsley Jottings from Jail i. 13 A reeler from Hackney, who knew me well, came up and said, ‘I am going to run the rule over (search) you.’
1898 Punch 27 Aug. 86/1 Even I have had my Pockets rifled immediately opposite the Grand Stand, not by the Sly Pickpocket, but by a Band of Snatchers, who..have run the Rule over me like so many Carpenters.
1927 G. Dilnot Great Detectives & their Methods (1928) ii. 14 By methods known to them they ‘ran the rule’ over him and, having ensured that his pockets were empty, slipped away.
l. Proverb. rules are made to be broken.
ΚΠ
1899 Locomotive Firemen's Mag. May 579/2 ‘Rules are made to be broken,’ some one has said, and such would appear to be the case on railroads, where rules are constantly being made.
1942 F. Gruber Gift Horse v. 38 ‘Rules are made to be broken,’ Johnny said with forced heartiness.
1981 R. Airth Once a Spy xx. 235 I had been glad to find myself in Italy, where rules are made to be broken and the truth has many sides.
2006 Esquire Sept. 82 Proving that rules are made to be broken, menswear designer of the year Kilgour mixes things up with a peaked lapel, one-button chalk stripe suit.
m. rule (number) one: the most important rule; the thing of greatest priority.
ΚΠ
1903 H. G. Hutchinson Shooting II. ix. 233 On the question of vermin, then, to the owners of rabbit grounds we would say—Rule number one: rats must be routed early in the day, and at all cost.
1963 M. McCarthy Group (1966) xi. 235 The analyst has to stay behind that barrier—Rule One.
1995 C. Higson Full Whack (1996) xvii. 125 Rule one, I am the ref. See?
2001 Financial Times 27 Jan. (Business Suppl.) 22/1 No one from his staff even thinks of taping the interview—normally rule number one of presidential media handling.
n. to play by the rules: see play v. 17h.
P2. Phrasal combinations with of.
a.
(a)
rule of three n. [compare French la regle de trois (1520)] Mathematics (in a proportion) a method of finding a fourth quantity, given three known quantities, which bears the same relation to the third as the second does to the first, or (equivalently) the same relation to the second as the third does to the first; cf. golden rule n. 1, rule of proportion at proportion n. 9b.When the relation of the fourth (unknown) quantity to the third is the same as that of the second to the first, the rule of three is called common or direct; when the relation of the fourth quantity to the second is the same as that of the third to the first, the rule of three is called inverse (cf. Rule of Three Inverse n. at Phrases 2a(b)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [noun] > mathematical enquiry > process of calculating > method or rule for
rulea1387
canonc1400
backer1543
position1551
rule of falsehood1552
rule of three1562
method of exhaustions1685
sieve1803
sieve of Eratosthenes1803
algorithm1811
algorism1888
sieve1897
decision procedure1936
pivotal condensation1939
decision method1940
1562 H. Baker Well Sprynge Sci. i. vii. f. 34v The rule of three is the chiefest, the moste profitable, and the moste excellente rule of all the rules of Arithmetike.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. vi. f. 9v And this is the common kind of working by the Rule of 3. whereof it is called the common Rule of three.
1650 T. Rudd Pract. Geom. ii. 23 This is your first number in the Rule of Three.
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 140 When the Rule of Three Direct has 1 for the 1st Term, 'tis usually called the Rule of Practice.
1766 Monthly Rev. 35 48 Having laid down the fundamental rules of arithmetic, our Author proceeds to proportion, or the rule of three.
1828 Moore's Pract. Navigator (ed. 20) p. xv Rule of Three in Decimals is worked in the same manner as common Arithmetic.
1912 Pop. Mech. Oct. 130 This Slide Rule will multiply, divide, solve proportion... Also the mensuration of superficies, and the rule of three.
2004 J. Godwin Real Rule of Four iv. 115 Those familiar with old-fashioned arithmetic will known of the ‘rule of three’.
(b)
Rule of Three Inverse n. now rare (chiefly in historical contexts) the rule of three as used to find a quantity whose relation to the second of the three known quantities is the same as that of the third to the first.
ΚΠ
1654 E. Wingate Ludus Mathematicus iv. 52 This Rule of Three Inverse is the same with that of the Rule of Three direct.
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 44 Rule of Three Inverse, is when more requires less, or less requires more.
1963 Math. Gaz. 46 172 The book certainly justifies the rhyme ‘The Rule of Three Doth Puzzle Me.’ since this is the definition of the Rule of Three Inverse.
b.
rule of court n. Law an order made by a judge or court with reference to a particular case only; = sense 4a.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court > decision in writing or court order > limited to specific case
rule1425
rule of court1631
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse iii. iii, in Wks. II. 133 They shall refer now, hither, for their processe; And such as trespasse 'gainst the rule of Court, Are to be fin'd.
1672 D. F. Statuta Vetera 25 Judgement may be entred by nihil dicit, and the Prisoner charged in Execution upon notice hereof to the Warden of the Fleet by rule of Court.
1708 Daily Courant 22 Apr. His Lordship hath obtain'd a Rule of Court in the Common Pleas to stay the Sale of the said Pictures for a Week.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 203 Upon this condition, that he enter into a rule of court to confess, at the trial of the cause, three of the four requisites for the maintenance of the plaintiff's action.
1819 W. P. Taunton Rep. Cases Comm. Pleas VII. 182 Until which hour, by the rule of Court, the seal-office ought not to be shut.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 312/2 A verbal submission..cannot be made a rule of court.
1933 Times 26 Oct. 4/2 The President pronounced for the will of 1932, and ordered that the terms of settlement be made a rule of Court.
1966 L. K. Wroth & H. B. Zobel in L. H. Butterfield Earliest Diary of John Adams 85 It is possible that there was some such informal proceeding before the start of the term, established by rule of court to save litigants some of the costs of proceeding in vain cases.
2009 Irish Times (Nexis) 6 July 18 They were settled and the terms handed in to court, which granted a judicial separation and made the consent a rule of court.
c.
rule of evidence n. (a) an empirical rule or principle; (b) Law a legal rule governing the admissibility of evidence (chiefly in plural).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > [noun] > rule or direction governing > concerning evidence
rule of evidence1645
exclusionary rule1827
Judges' Rules1925
1645 J. Saltmarsh Opening Prynnes New Bk. 14 A profession then, was according to the Rule of evidence, till the contrary appeared.
1695 C. Fleury Hist., Choice, & Method of Stud. ii. 151 'Tis this Logick, which lays down the Great Rules of Evidence, of Certainty and Demonstration.
1703 A. Boyer Hist. King William III III. 218 The same Rule of Evidence must be observ'd in another Place, as well as Westminster-Hall.
1756 Gilbert's Law Evid. (new ed.) 8 The Rule of Evidence commands no farther than to produce the best that the Nature of the Thing is capable of.
1801 T. Peake Law of Evid. p. v The chapter on Parol Testimony, also is in a great measure new; for the rules of evidence in this respect have been so much altered, and so much light has been thrown on them by modern decisions, that, comparatively, little is to be collected from ancient books.
1892 S. L. Phipson Law of Evid. p. v I have..adhered to one uniform method of arrangement throughout—that of stating: (1) The rules of evidence [etc.].
1908 J. H. Wigmore in Sel. Ess. Anglo-Amer. Legal Hist. II. xl. 691 (heading) A general survey of the history of the rules of evidence.
1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 4 Sept. 3/4 This committee was not bound by the rules of evidence. It was not constrained to follow courtroom procedures.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) iii. 83 Included in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 was the scrapping of significant rules of evidence as they have traditionally applied in criminal cases.
d.
rules of the game n. the rules for playing a particular game or sport; (figurative) a set of conventions governing social, political, or military relations.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > [noun] > conventions
rules of the game1675
1675 O. Walker Paraphr. Epist. St. Paul (2 Tim. ii. 5) 328 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully (and according to the rules of the Game).
1742 Scots Mag. Feb. 78/1 Under the pretext of explaining the rules of the game [sc. chess]..he made him perceive and relish important truths.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xiii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 187 ‘I was a little astonished when I found that a treaty, in which I was so considerable interested, had advanced a good way before I was even consulted.’ ‘Capot me if I think that was according to the rules of the game,’ said his confidant.
1852 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 308 The country at whose expense such a battle must be fought is not reconciled to the inconvenience by being told that such are the rules of the game.
1910 S. E. White Rules of Game xli. 644 Things change; and a man is foolish to act as though they didn't. He's just got to keep playing along according to the rules of the game. And they keep changing too.
1946 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 203/1 By the rules of the game, the lone marble bars all the others from further competition.
1964 S. W. Rousseas & J. Farganis in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 287 Operating within the rules-of-the-game of institutionalized conflict.
2002 N.Y. Times 15 Sept. iv. 5/2 Last week, Mr. Bush made a public demonstration of willingness to honor the traditional rules of the game.
e.
rules of the sea n. (also the rule of the sea) a set of customs or laws regulating the behaviour of ships and other vessels at sea; cf. the rule of the road at road n. Phrases 15.
ΚΠ
1676 C. Molloy De Jure Maritimo ii. ii. 203 They..may be seized by any of the Kings Officers and Commanders, and to be divided as Prizes, according to the Orders and Rules of the Sea.
1780 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 440/1 Justice shall be expeditiously rendered, after the rules of the sea, conformable to treaty and usage received.
1827 Law Jrnl. 5 (Michaelmas Term 1826) 31/2 The rule of the sea may be compared to the rule of the road, by which a party driving, is bound to keep the left hand side, and a ship having the wind must get out of the way.
1880 Amer. Law Rev. Sept. 677 It is negligence in a schooner, under the general rules of the sea, not to show a torchlight..to an approaching steam vessel.
1915 Rudder Aug. 353/1 The rules of the sea that require lights at night were surely meant for all, and not alone for the other fellow.
1980 M. Carin Five Hundred Keys iv. 63 I'm learning..all sorts of things about rules of the sea, the practices of various ports.
2002 Guardian 17 Sept. 3/6 I hope they will be true to their word and respect the rules of the sea.
f.
rule of the octave n. [ultimately after French règle de l'octave (1716); compare Italian regola dell'ottava] Music (now historical) a formula for harmonization of the ascending and descending scale in the bass.
ΚΠ
1754 J. Barrow Suppl. New & Universal Dict. at Accompaniment The player will not be much mistaken in accompanying by the rule of the octave, if the composer has followed the most natural and simple harmony.
1783 tr. A. Bemetzrieder Acct. New Way of considering Musick 25 The rule of the octave, the progression of consonances and dissonances, and the final phrases, are generally approved.
1849 B. Fontana Musical Man. ii. xi. 153 The rule of the octave..can boast of being the true regulator of every good composition, and musical tenet.
1888 Musical World 28 Apr. 331/1 According to the old rule of the octave a chord of the ‘added sixth’ was placed upon the sub-dominant in ascending.
1920 Musical Q. 6 355 This method was known as the Rule of the Octave. At one time a great educational device, it is now quite obsolete.
1995 Bach Perspectives 1 28 C. P. E. Bach presents the rule of the octave and other bass lines as the foundation for the improvisation of fantasies.
g.
rule of thirds n. (in painting, photography, etc.) a compositional guideline which involves envisioning a picture divided into equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines so that key elements or focal points of the image can be aligned with one of the lines or their intersections in an off-centre position.
ΚΠ
1797 J. T. Smith Remarks on Rural Scenery 16 Analogous to this ‘Rule of thirds’, (if I may be allowed so to call it) I have presumed to think that, in connecting or in breaking the various lines of a picture, it would likewise be a good rule to do it, in general, by a similar scheme of proportion; for example, in a design of landscape, to determine the sky at about two-thirds; or else at about one-third.
1931 Amer. Photogr. 25 382/1 The placing of dominant lines in the picture area should also be considered. Here again the ‘rule of thirds’ applies.
1951 Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 14 Jan. 4/4 One of the simplest and most useful rules of composition has its basis in plane geometry. This is commonly known as the ‘rule of thirds’.
1991 Photo Answers Apr. 50/2 Compositionally speaking, the picture benefits from the vase being placed in accordance with the rule of thirds.
2007 A. Jeynes Paint iii. 66/1 Use the rule of thirds..to place the focal point in a more pleasing spot.
h.
rule of brain n. now rare a principle or method derived from reason and theory rather than practice and experience; frequently opposed to rule of thumb n.
ΚΠ
1881 Liverpool Mercury 29 Sept. 6/5 If we are to compete on fair terms with other nations we must put more science into our industries, and substitute the rule of brain for the rule of thumb.
1891 Trans. of Wisconsin State Agric. Society 29 167 The most profound change which any vocation ever undergoes is its passage from the rule of thumb to the rule of brain.
1902 Nature 6 Mar. 428/1 If we are to hold our own, we must supplement the rule of thumb in our workshops—very important in itself—by the rule of brain.
1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 25 Tom and Tessy..of themselves significant, To rule-of-brain recalcitrant.
i.
rule of reason n. Law a standard or criterion by which United States courts test the legality of business activities under section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), which prohibits unreasonable restraint of trade; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > test for unreasonableness
rule of reason1911
Wednesbury test1968
1911 Proc. Supreme Court 1910 in Senate Doc. 62nd U.S. Congr. 1 Sess. No. 34. 19 The criteria to be resorted to in any given case for the purpose of ascertaining whether violations of the section have been committed is the rule of reason guided by the established law and by the plain duty to enforce the prohibitions of the act.
1954 J. B. Dirlam & A. E. Kahn Fair Competition i. 12 There has been, therefore, some dilution of the traditional ‘rule of reason’, which permitted the courts previously to consider economic justifications for allegedly restrictive, collusive, or exclusive practices.
2003 P. Craig & G. De Búrca EU Law (ed. 3) xviii. 815 The ECJ has also developed a justificatory test for workers, services, and establishment alike which is similar to the Cassis de Dijon ‘rule of reason’ in the free movement of goods context.
2005 Univ. Chicago Law Rev. 72 123 The rule of reason is the appropriate test for judging tying claims involving software integration.
j.
rules of engagement n. directives issued by military or political authority setting out the circumstances and limitations under which a military force operates in a potentially hostile environment, particularly regarding the use of force; also figurative; abbreviated ROE.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > [noun] > injunction or instruction > an injunction or instruction > set of
standing order1619
sailing orders1796
marching orders1856
remit1877
rules of engagement1957
ROE1970
1954 Pacific Stars & Stripes 22 Jan. 8 Subjects which these antiaircraft artillery-men must know thoroughly include aircraft recognition, assembly and disassembly of weapons, gunnery, maintenance, rule of engagement of aircraft, [etc.].]
1957 Washington Post 29 Dec. e2 United States aircraft operating over Canadian territory are governed by Canadian rules of engagement.
1971 Brit. Yearbk. Internat. Law 1970 44 32 It was the function of the Commander Coastal Surveillance Forces..to draft the Rules of Engagement for Operation Market Time.
1997 Kiplinger's Personal Finance Mag. Nov. 136/2 Before you begin to do battle with your insurer, you'd better know the rules of engagement.
2009 New Yorker 6 July 47/1 The Army's rules of engagement, or R.O.E., which govern when and how much force a soldier may use in combat, can fit on two dozen printed pages, and are classified as secret.
k.
rules of origin n. rules applied in free-trade areas to determine whether goods qualify for duty-free admission by specifying a minimum percentage of raw material, labour, etc., which must come from member countries.
ΚΠ
1957 European-Atlantic Rev. Winter 6/2 In all the technical talk of tariff rates, harmonisation, rules of origin, and so on, it is all too easy to lose sight of the fundamental issue that is at stake.
1960 Amer. Econ. Rev. 50 373 The rules of origin adopted by the eftaa require that 50 per cent of the value of a commodity be produced in a member country in order for it to acquire duty-free status.
1991 C. Pentland in F. O. Hampson & C. J. Maule After Cold War 136 Will American firms in Europe be hit by ‘rules of origin’ designed to ensure a higher proportion of local production?
2004 National Rev. (New Delhi) Nov. 34/1 The intent of liberalizing trade with Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has been torpedoed by rules of origin.
l.
rule of recognition n. Law (in the legal theory of H. L. A. Hart) a rule determining how a group, esp. the judiciary, recognizes a normative principle as legally compelling.
ΚΠ
1961 H. L. A. Hart Concept of Law v. 92 The simplest form of remedy for the uncertainty of the régime of primary rules is the introduction of what we shall call a ‘rule of recognition’. This will specify some feature or features possession of which by a suggested rule is taken as a conclusive affirmative indication that it is a rule of the group to be supported by the social pressure it exerts.
1980 Mind 89 524 The existence of the rule of recognition depends on its being practised (mainly by the judiciary).
2009 Washington Law Rev. (Nexis) Mar. 269 The very existence and memorializing of these provisions does show that in ancient Babylon both a rule of recognition and a system of adjudication were well developed.
Compounds
C1. Compounds with rule.
a.
(a) General attributive and objective (in sense 13), as in rule-manufacturer, rule stone, rule trade, etc. See also rule-maker n. 2, rule joint n.
ΚΠ
c1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1987) 38 459 ‘Ȝe,’ than seyd þe rewle-stone, ‘Mayster hath many fone’.
1825 Mechanics' Mag. 5 Mar. 372/1 I am requested by the Rule-Manufacturers of Birmingham to write to you for information..as to whether the Act for Regulating the Standard Measures of the Country will affect the length of Rules.
1884 Birmingham Daily Post 28 July 3/4 Rule framer..used to jointed, folding, and slipping work.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Oct. 7/2 He..applied himself with..zeal to the rule trade.
1905 Forestry Q. Aug. 249 The rule stick thus constructed is called the regular five-line rule.
1971 Tools & their Uses (U.S. Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel) (1973) iii. 102 The rule depth gage is a graduated rule with a sliding head designed to bridge a hole or slot.
1983 Buck & Hickman Catal. 1983–5 846 Zipped breast pocket..and rule pocket.
(b) Typography. General attributive and objective (in sense 17), as in rule border, rule-cutter, rule-cutting, rule work, etc.
ΚΠ
1800 London Compositors' Comm. Petition 24 Oct. in E. Howe London Compositor (1947) 78 All works done in two columns..be paid one shilling per sheet extra... This article does not extend to figure or rule-work.
1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. 94 Space rules..are, in intricate rule work,..neater than brass rule [etc.].
1818 J. Haslewood in Brathwait's Barnabæ Itinerarium (new ed.) Notes 85 All the capitals and rule ornaments used in the first edition.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Rule-cutter, a printers'-smith who prepares brass column and page-rules for printers.
1918 C. De Vèze First Steps in Job Composition vi. 37 It would have to be a very large office in which one man could not keep up with the rule-cutting.
1952 Billboard 13 Sept. 99/2 1 pt. rule borders permitted only on ads of 28 lines or more.
2000 R. Goldberg Digital Typogr. iii. 82 The rule line is used for horizontal ruling to indicate underlining.
(c) Linguistics. General attributive and objective (in sense 19b), as in rule formation, rule-learning, rule sequence, etc.
ΚΠ
1965 Language 41 703 There in no reason to expect..that the fact of children's rule-learning would emerge from the Miller-Ervin analysis.
1968 Language 44 735 It follows from premise 1 that from proto-language *L there will be n rule sequences into each of n daughter languages.
1971 P. Kiparsky in W. O. Dingwall Surv. Ling. Sci. 612 The concept of rule opacity..has an important role to play elsewhere in linguistic theory.
1987 Ling. Inq. 18 14 Standard Lexical Phonology would have to write into the rule environment the information that Noncontinuant Depalatalization is a word-level rule.
1992 D. Gutch in C. Blank Lang. & Civilization I. 593 Theo Vennemann..introduced the concept of ‘rule inversion’ as a widespread mechanism of linguistic change.
1994 Appl. Linguistics 15 97 SLA research has shown the constraints on rule-teaching by revealing learners' own processes and development of rule-formation.
b.
(a) General attributive.
rule change n.
ΚΠ
1906 Outing Feb. 637/2 The programme of rule changes to be proposed by the different members for action at a coming meeting.
2005 Independent 23 May 21/1 Under the rule change,..a simple majority of just 51 Senators would be required to end debate, instead of the current ‘super-majority’ of 60.
rule formulation n.
ΚΠ
1930 L. Green Judge & Jury i. 18 The best example to be found of rule formulation in the field of torts is the work of the Torts group of the American Law Institute.
1978 C. Hookway in C. Hookway & P. Pettit Action & Interpr. 27 If indeterminacy obtains it is likely to infect the translation of the object language into a metalanguage involved in the rule-formulation.
1996 Marine Engineers Rev. Oct. 25/1 Rule formulation which links the required safety levels to the craft's design envelope.
rule set n. chiefly Computing
ΚΠ
1969 Brit. Patent 1,159,441 3/1 These signals cannot be converted according to the rule set.
1986 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 14 Feb. b19 A rule set can be used to represent the knowledge of anyone in any field.
2009 I. Millington & J. Funge Artific. Intelligence for Games (ed. 2) v. 456 At one point in the hierarchy, we used a rule set for all the rules corresponding to the peculiarities of each weapon in the game.
rule system n.
ΚΠ
1857 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 21 Oct. Riot, and bloodshed, and battery became the rule for months over whole counties, as the result of the new rule system.
1908 Assoc. Engin. Societies Mar. 173 The tendency of the rule system is to deaden all individual effort on the part of the working man.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory iii. 144 Universal pragmatics..attempts to reconstruct the rule systems which allow actors to communicate in any type of context.
1996 Appl. Linguistics 17 49 The system so developed is not to be simply a rule-system which has to be applied anew in each communication.
rule violation n.
ΚΠ
1904 Railroad Trainman Jrnl. July 527/1 The men are made to feel that rule violation is all right.
2010 San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News (Nexis) 10 June A Trail Watch program where frequent trail users could volunteer to report incidents, maintenance issues and rule violations on a hotline.
rule waiver n.
ΚΠ
1928 Ironwood (Mich.) Daily Globe 26 July 1/1 His commanding point lead was a factor in the rule waiver.
1963 Railway Age 11 Feb. 36/3 Individual railroads should apply for specific rule waivers to the extent necessary.
2009 Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 Jan. With the benefit of a rule waiver from the Financial Services Authority..the banks are being allowed to ignore complaints unless the customer claims financial hardship.
(b) Objective and instrumental.
rule-breaker n.
ΚΠ
1834 Royal Lady's Mag. June 215/1 Those who exhibited thirty according to the rule, were passed over to give the rule-breaker a prize.
1965 Ethics 75 242/2 The disapproval that necessarily accompanies rule-breaking must be communicated to the rule-breaker.
2005 Independent 23 Nov. 47/3 If you hope to be a creative rule-breaker, you will have to learn to live with opposition.
rule-breaking n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1830 Spirit of Pilgrims Nov. 577 The rule-making and rule-breaking system which prevails so much at the present day.
1835 Southern Lit. Messenger May 480/2 A mischief loving, rule breaking, but active and gallant youth.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 19 Oct. 6/1 The compounding parties bring themselves under the charge of rule-breaking.
1993 R. Rucker et al. Mondo 2000 (U.K. ed.) 54/1 Some say that cracking represents any and all forms of rule-breaking and illegal activity using a computer.
2004 N.Y. Times Mag. 31 Oct. 51/1 Under the state's disciplinary system, rule-breaking inmates face escalating sanctions.
rule-enforcer n.
ΚΠ
1939 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 15 Apr. 16/3 (crossword clue) Rule enforcer.
1945 Rotarian Dec. 44/2 Democratic representative government..is the servant of its sovereign free citizens, functioning as a fair rule-maker, rule-enforcer, and impartial referee.
2005 Mod. Law Rev. 63 463 Quantification of responsibility and distribution of blame..constitute very difficult exercises for both juries and rule-enforcers.
rule-giver n.
ΚΠ
1577 W. Fulke Two Treat. against Papistes ii. ii. xiv. 413 You are a rule giuer.
1657 J. Stalham Reviler Rebuked i. 44 The Scripture exalts him higher, and calls him our Rule-giver or Law-giver.
1859 T. Hancock Peculium iv. 129 The real rule-givers have been the men of the Middle Age, and the men of the Latter Age of Quakerism.
1917 Friend 31 May 584/1 Then people grew to regard God as the Counsellor, and Moses made Him a rule-giver even for the fringe on men's garments.
1995 P. K. Saha in P. C. Hogan & L. Pandit Literary India ix. 176 Bharata, the most influential rule-giver of Sanskrit drama, laid down various rigid rules in his Nāṭyaśāstra (The Principles of Drama).
rule-giving n.
ΚΠ
1950 Mind 59 391 Why not say ‘rule-giving’ method?
1978 M. Gregory & S. Carroll Lang. & Situation viii. 94 There had been and was much rule-giving about language usage based on an imperfect and incomplete idea of what it is.
2000 Perspectives in Ethol. 13 198 The contingencies governing rule-giving are harder to discern than those governing rule-following.
rule-keeper n.
ΚΠ
1594 S. Daniel Cleopatra iv. in Delia (new ed.) sig. M4 Misterious Egipt, wonder breeder, strict religions strange obseruer, State-ordrer Zeale, the best rule-keeper, fostring still in temprate feruor.
1886 Gazetteer Bombay Presidency XXIV. 123 They [sc. Vánis] are divided into Shilvants or rule-keepers and Lokcants or common people.
1986 Jrnl. Criminal Law & Criminol. 77 983 At first, the rule keeper's role was entirely facilitative.
2010 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 11 Apr. a6 My father is 92 and has been a rule-keeper his whole life.
rule-loving adj.
ΚΠ
1826 A. M. Porter Honor O'Hara II. iii. 99 A politely-uproarious assembly of exquisite pretenders, all equally rule-worthy, and rule-loving.
1949 Proc. Aristotelian Soc. 23 176 Aristotle's Poetics, that storehouse of aesthetic principles and perennial inspiration of rule-loving critics.
2009 Corporate Engagem. (Nexis) 5 Nov. The private sector bureaucrats are seen as rule-loving tossers.
rule-monger n.
ΚΠ
1847 A. De Morgan Arithm. Bks. 75 The newness of plan seems to consist in putting the rules into unintelligible verse, and beating even the older rule-mongers in puzzling plain questions.
1857 J. Hamilton Lessons from Great Biogr. 195 The stinted and external compliance of the rubricist and rule-monger.
2006 E. Brink Save your Own vi. 111 I might have quoted the rule forbidding men to enter Responsibility House, but I did not want to be seen as a petty rule-monger.
rule-mongering n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1803 Adviser 3 ciii. 328 He..despised the precepts of routine following, and rule-mongering blockheads.
1917 H. E. Cory Edmund Spencer vii. 417 Joseph Spence..did something to supplement Hughes' attempt to close up this gap in French rule-mongering.
1974 B. F. Dukore Dramatic Theory & Crit. 208 He shared some of the premises of the rule-mongering critics.
1993 Internat. Jrnl. Politics, Culture, & Soc. 7 336 Student protesters took to the streets..to demonstrate their generation's limited patience with the petty authoritarianism and inane rule-mongering of local Party officials.
2002 N.Y. Sun (Nexis) 7 June 6 Mr. McCoy's anti-white animosities set off a bitter teacher's strike that helped create the rule-mongering teachers union we have today.
rule setter n.
ΚΠ
1952 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 29 Apr. 20/1 So long as the coaches let the august body of rule setters move serenely along without interruption wacky changes will continue to be made.
2001 Jrnl. Peace Res. 38 51/1 The leading state, or hegemon, serves as a clarifier and rule setter.
rule-writer n.
ΚΠ
1883 R. Waples Handbk. on Parl. Pract. xv. 252 As for a rule-writer to undertake to express the law of deliberative order so as to render common parliamentary law no longer operative.
1970 Times 14 Apr. 28 (advt.) We require a senior rule writer..to consider the operation requirements of military computer systems.
2010 Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) (Nexis) 20 May a1 Lawmakers need some way to rein in rule-writers.
(c) Objective and instrumental.
rule-based adj.
ΚΠ
1962 H. Feith Decline Constit. Democracy Indonesia vii. 319 The social and psychological upheavals which had been wrought by the Revolution..had been too great to allow an easy transition to a rule-based system of government.
1975 E. Ingram in J. P. Allen & S. P. Corder Edinb. Course in Appl. Linguistics II. viii. 234 Palermo obtained a remarkable simulation of the child's early rote learning of the correct forms of frequent irregular verbs..and the later rule-based learning.
2006 F. Wilczek Fantastic Realities 65 The strongly interacting particles are also ultimately described by a simple, rule-based theory.
rule-free adj.
ΚΠ
1854 S. Neil Elements of Rhetoric iv. 30 The differences which exist are only in the minor accidents of thought-expression—that little that is capricious or rule-free.
1986 N. Chomsky Knowl. of Lang. iii. 210 It is difficult to see why complication of phrase structure rules in the manner he or others propose is ‘simpler’ or provides fewer accessible grammars than the rule-free system.
2004 New Yorker 4 Oct. 84/3 Art galleries and museums and Kunsthallen around the world made ‘transgressive’, rule-free art an increasing part of their program.
rule-governed adj.
ΚΠ
1857 N.Y. Herald 12 Aug. 2/1 Impromptu racing, such as they have enjoyed en route, is infinitely better fun than the more formal, rule governed sailing in the region.
1965 Language 41 548 Language is rule-governed behavior, and learning a language involves internalizing the rules.
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 Feb. 34/3 There is a deep reason why languages like English or Finnish must be rule-governed.
rule-ridden adj.
ΚΠ
1731 J. Constable Refl. Accuracy Style iii. 76 Some [sc. authors]..may securely contemn the severity of Rule-ridden criticks.
1896 Electr. Jrnl. 15 June 519/2 New York people may need a guardian,..being so closely related in sympathy and tom-foolery to the rule-ridden governments of Europe.
1949 ELH 16 144 Pope..condemns rule-ridden France.
2009 Yukon News (Nexis) 7 Oct. 8 Reflection suggested that, in our rule-ridden world there'd be tethering rules.
c. † rule bearing n. Obsolete possession of authority or control.† rule coat n. Obsolete a tunic worn by a nun undergoing penance.† rule-driller n. Obsolete rare a person who teaches arithmetical rules by rote.
rule absolute n. Law (now chiefly historical) a ruling taking effect immediately, fully, and unconditionally, and not liable to subsequent challenge or rescindment; also in extended use; cf. rule nisi n.
ΚΠ
1741 H. Barnes Notes Cases Court of Common Pleas 1732–9 8 Plaintiff must pay Costs, and cannot amend on giving an Imparlance. Rule absolute on Payment of Costs.
1816 R. Sainthill Let. 11 June in E. Thomason Mem. (1845) I. 89 All classical authors lay it down as a rule absolute, that the inscription on both sides of a medal should be in the same language.
1853 D. M. Mulock Agatha's Husband II. 38 She thought the rule absolute was painfully prevalent in the Harper family.
1907 Eastern Law Reporter (Toronto) 15 Jan. 257 The judgment of the Court is..that the motion be allowed, and that there be a rule absolute to quash.
2002 D. Hay in N. Landau Law, Crime & Eng. Society ii. 27 Even if the court did not grant a rule absolute to the prosecutor, the judges might chastise the justice by awarding costs against him.
ΚΠ
1553 tr. S. Gardiner De Vera Obediencia: Oration f. xl In dede, these are Christes fotsteppes, and this is the maiestie of rule bearyng in Christ [L. haec in Christo dominandi maiestas].
1556 J. Olde tr. R. Gwalther Antichrist f. 175v Their ambicion and desire of rule bearing.
rule box n. Typography a rectangle formed by ruled or printed lines.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > rectangle of (printed ) lines
rule box1899
1899 Printer & Bookmaker Feb. 272/1 The pages are enclosed in plain rule ‘boxes’.
1928 Publishers' Weekly 30 June 2605 Above the stamp..must be printed the words..enclosed in a rule box.
1999 S. Heller Design Literacy (Continued) 83 The variously colored, overlapping one-point rule boxes, with different-colored, tight-fitting type, make Wallpaper* a cluttered mosaic.
ΚΠ
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 262 (MED) Sche schal put from her her..cowle, mantel..and veyle, and remayne in her rewle cote.
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 264 The abbes schal ȝeue her holy water and a rewle cote.
ΚΠ
1847 A. De Morgan Arithm. Bks. p. xxii I speak to the teacher, not the rule-driller.
rule nisi n. Law a ruling taking effect after a particular period of time, unless cause be shown within the period why it should not; cf. rule absolute n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court > decision other than final judgement
order1557
interdict1611
interlocutory1620
interlocution1706
rule nisi1738
decree nisi1860
1738 Cases King's Bench William III 312 But after a Rule Nisi had been obtained, Holt said that it were fit for a Jury to try whether it were a Trade then or not.
1829 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. 18 Mar. 1/2 No motion for a new trial will be heard by the Court in any cause unless a rule Nisi be applied for.
1908 Times 28 May 4/1 This was an application to make absolute a rule nisi.
2000 Cape Times 19 July i. 14/11 (advt.) A rule nisi is hereby issued calling upon the Respondent and all persons interested to show cause, if any.
rule-proving adj. (of an exception) that proves the rule; see exception n. 1b.
ΚΠ
1864 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 16/2 The doctor was of course very polite (for Abernethy was a rule-proving exception).
1895 H. Rashdall Univ. Europe in Middle Ages II. 622 The earliest exceptions are of the rule-proving order.
2009 Wire Jan. 49/3 One track stands out as rule-proving exception.
rule-staff n. now historical and rare (a) a measuring rod; (b) Shipbuilding a flexible piece of wood used to measure the curves of a vessel's timbers.
ΚΠ
1624 Quarter Session Judicial Files Winter (Cheshire Arch.: QJF 53/4) f. 43 A poore woman being in the howse and seeing the said Sparkes rule staffe lye on the floore tooke it vp and stroke him vpon the head wt it.
1652 G. Fox Jrnl. (1709) I. 160 There was in the Company a Mason, a Professor, but a rude Fellow; He with his walking Rule-Staff gave me a Blow with all his might.
1805 Shipwright's Vade-mecum 133 Spilings, the dimensions taken from a straight line, a mould's edge, or rule-staff, to any given line or edge.
1875 E. Kellogg Young Ship-builders Elm Island xii. 176 You see..that this rule staff, being bent on, has followed exactly the twist of the timbers.
2003 G. Walker Crime, Gender & Social Order in Early Mod. Eng. ii. 49 A ‘poor woman’ assisted an ale-wife who had come to blows with John Spark over his unpaid dues, by hitting Spark over the head with his own rule-staff.
C2. With first element in plural form.
a. General attributive, with the sense ‘preoccupied with, knowledgeable about, or in charge of rules and regulations’, as rulesman, rulespeople.
ΚΠ
1860 App. Jrnls. Assembly 11th Session Calif. 59 If he be a simple rulesman, a stiff, mechanical, traditional agent, nothing of importance will be achieved.
1963 Punch 20 Mar. 416/1 Does anyone ever know the order of the draw? Yes, the rulespeople.
1991 Sports Illustr. 10 June 40/2 The scoring symbol that baseball lore credits to the 19th-century rulesmeister, Henry Chadwick.
b.
Rules Committee n. (also with lower-case initials) (in the United States) a state or federal legislative committee responsible for expediting the passage of bills.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > types of body or spec. bodies > [noun] > committee > committees of U.S. legislature
Committee on Ways and Means1789
Rules Committee1870
1870 Georgia Weekly Tel. 22 Feb. The Rules Committee is opposed to the plan.
1918 H. W. Dodds Procedure in State Legislatures (Annals Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. Suppl. No. 1) iv. 60 Enjoying as much parliamentary power as the English cabinet, the rules committee [of the New York Assembly] nevertheless escapes any measure of responsibility before the people.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 12 June 5/2 Lobbying..was so intense the Rules Committee wouldn't release the legislation.
1993 Washington Post National Weekly 12 Apr. 12/1 In the House, the administration relied on hardball tactics by the Democratic leadership, working through the Rules Committee, to forestall any serious revisions in the package.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
rulen.2
/ruːl/, U.S. /rul/ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > [noun]
winOE
torpelness?c1225
disturbance1297
workc1325
disturblingc1330
farec1330
frapec1330
disturbing1340
troublingc1340
blunderc1375
unresta1382
hurling1387
perturbationc1400
turbationc1400
rumblec1405
roara1413
rumourc1425
sturblance1435
troublec1435
stroublance1439
hurlc1440
hurly-burlyc1440
ruffling1440
stourc1440
rumblingc1450
sturbancec1450
unquietness?c1450
conturbationc1470
ruption1483
stir1487
wanrufe?a1505
rangat?a1513
business1514
turmoil1526
blommera1529
blunderinga1529
disturbation1529
bruyllie1535
garboil1543
bruslery1546
agitation1547
frayment1549
turmoiling1550
whirl1552
confusion1555
troublesomeness1561
rule1567
rummage1575
rabble1579
tumult1580
hurlement1585
rabblement1590
disturb1595
welter1596
coil1599
hurly1600
hurry1600
commotion1616
remotion1622
obturbation1623
stirrance1623
tumultuation1631
commoving1647
roiling1647
spudder1650
suffle1650
dissettlement1654
perturbancy1654
fermentationa1661
dissettledness1664
ferment1672
roil1690
hurry-scurry1753
vortex1761
rumpus1768
widdle1789
gilravagea1796
potheration1797
moil1824
festerment1833
burly1835
fidge1886
static1923
comess1944
frammis1946
bassa-bassa1956
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Gvij Such rule, and ruffle make the rowte That cum to see our geare.
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession sig. Ddj I doubte not, but to take suche order, as there shall no more any suche rule happen betweene you.
1593 Passionate Morrice sig. Fv No lesse rule then is in a tauerne of great resorte.
1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxvii. 135 Was neuer seene such rule In any place but heere, at Boon-fire, or at Yeule.
1677 E. Coles Dict. Eng.-Lat. (at cited word) Now I will go see what rule they keep, nunc in tumultum ibo.
1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 381 ‘What a rule is there?’ Quid turbæ est?
1703 R. Thoresby Let. 27 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 426 What a Reul's here? You make a nise rent. i.e. work, mad work.
2. English regional (northern) and Scottish. An unruly person or animal; a playful or restless person. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Dial. Cumberland (ed. 2) Reùll, an unruly boy, colt or ox.
1882 Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (new ed.) Ruil, an awkward female romp.
1897 Shetland News 11 Sept. Ir ony idder sneakin' rüil.
1904 B. Kirkby in Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 92/2 [Westmorland] Tho gurt awkward reul, hod thi still.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
rulev.
/ruːl/, U.S. /rul/ I. Senses relating to influence, control, or government.
1.
a. transitive. To exercise sway or influence over; to provide guidance or direction to. Now rare except as merged with senses 4a and 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > influence > have influence with [verb (transitive)] > have controlling or prevailing influence upon
rule?c1225
govern1340
overcomec1400
charmc1540
rein1557
oversway1593
reign1844
society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)] > have charge of
redeOE
steer13..
agyea1450
rulea1500
tend?1521
to have, take, give (the) charge of1611
work1841
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 1 Moni cunne riwlen beoð..þe an riwleð þe heorte.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Tobit. x. 13 Monestende hir to wrshipen hir fader and moder in lawe..to reule [L. regere] the meyne, to gouerne the hous.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Corpus Cambr. 61) (1894) ii. l. 1377 So reulith hire hir hertes gost withInne That though she bende ȝeet she stant on roote.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxvi. §16. 97 Oure lord..takis me to norysch and to rewle, as fadire and modire.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 136 (MED) Al this he didde for wrethe that this nobyll lordis hym roulide for the beste in his tendyr age.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 264 Trubill nevir thy self..Vthiris to reiwll that will not rewlit be.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 123 Your wisedome must so moderate and rule you.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. iii. 198 Now by heauen My blood begins my safer guides to rule . View more context for this quotation
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 166 Mercury..was esteemed to rule both our sleepe and our dreames.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. i. 35 But meaner precepts now my life must rule.
1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism i. 7 The very same spirit of kindness which should rule us in the performance of a task such as the one now in hand.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xlv. 15 So may he that is in this hour ascendant Rule us ever.
1917 A. D. Miller Ladies must Live iv. 137 You have an excellent advocate in Christine. My daughter has always ruled me.
b. transitive. In passive. To submit to counsel, guidance, or authority; to listen to reason; to be advised by.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > advice > give advice [verb (intransitive)] > consult or take advice
redeeOE
to take (in early use (i-)nim) redeOE
rulea1387
advisea1393
takec1450
take1480
resolve1591
preconsult1606
to have (also take) under advisement1735
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 393 (MED) He was i-ruled and i-ladde by ledynge and counsaille of mynstralles.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 83 (MED) Þe Emperour..saw þat Arthure wolde nouȝt bene rewelede by him.
?c1430 (c1383) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 7 (MED) Þei chesyn to be reulid..after þe ordynaunce of synful men.
a1500 (?a1425) Antichrist (Peniarth) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mills Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. App. 492 (MED) All ledys in londe now bese lighte that wyllyn be rulyde thrugheout the right.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 63 Be rewlit rycht and keip this doctring.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Little French Lawyer iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. I3v/2 Pray be rul'd Sir, This is the maddest thing.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 263 Be ruled, or you will rue it.
1739 J. Swift Verses on Death Dr. Swift: Nov. 1731 9 He would never take Advice. Had he been rul'd,..He might have liv'd these twenty Years.
1758 F. Warner Mem. Life T. More 8 If he would be ruled and take His Advice, He would remove the King's Resentment.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 78 But listen to me, and by me be ruled.
1883 M. W. Hungerford Loӱs, Lord Berresford I. 146 Be sure and take up a good position near the poker, as she will not be ruled by him and employ the police.
c1921 D. H. Lawrence Mr. Noon viii, in Mod. Lover (1934) 266 It's just like him—but there you are. Those that won't be ruled can't be schooled.
2001 V. S. Naipaul Half Life (2002) 148 We mustn't spoil it now. We mustn't take any names. Please be ruled by me.
2. † b. transitive. To exercise, administer, wield (some power or authority). Obsolete.† c. transitive. Scottish. To have charge or supervision of; to keep in good order; spec. to regulate (a clock). Obsolete.
a. transitive. To direct, guide, manage (a thing); to have under one's control.to rule the stern: see stern n.3 1d.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)]
wieldeOE
redeOE
temperc1000
wisc1000
yemec1000
aweldc1175
guy13..
rule1340
attemperc1374
stightlea1375
justifya1393
governa1400
moder1414
control1495
moderate1534
rein1557
manage1560
sway1587
to bear (a rein) upon1603
bridle1615
ephorize1647
puppet1840
coact1855
boss1856
run1869
swing1873
society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)] > direct
rakeeOE
rule1340
demean?a1400
direct?1510
hold1577
mastermind1927
quarterback1943
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 124 (MED) Sleȝþe heþ þri offices, uor be þise virtue al þet man deþ..al he diȝt and let and reuleþ to þe lyne of scele.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 147 The swan..in swymmynge..vsiþ þat oon foot in stede of an oore an þe oþir in stede of a roþir, and ruleþ hymself [L. se regendo] þerwith.
1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) 36 Y most doe as y se the mater woll be ruled.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5542 (MED) [Alexander] þe biggist out callis, And raȝt to þaim þire rekenthis to rewle & to hald.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 2641 (MED) A man may on hors ride, And he him ruleþ to and fro Þe weie þat he wole haue hym to go.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Eiv I shall of fortune rule the reyne.
c1600 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 8 Ane new courteour that rullit so the ruddar.
1630 J. Smith True Trav. 13 Being not able to rule his horse and defend himselfe, he was throwne to the ground.
1739 R. Erskine Glad Tidings in Sad Times 31 Let him even take the government, and rule the Reins as he pleaseth.
1799 R. Heron New Gen. Hist. Scotl. V. v. ii. 264 They were believed to be capable—of ruling the course of the winds and tides.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna iii. xxxi. 72 I..dared not look upon the shape Of him who ruled the helm.
1942 W. Davenport in C. Riess They were There (1971) 440 [They] rule the affairs of seventy-five thousand civil employees.
2005 B. Birchard Nature's Keepers v. 101 All at once, the bioreserve experimenters and community-based conservation advocates ruled the direction of the organization.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [verb (transitive)]
wieldeOE
bearOE
rulea1393
sway1575
carry1598
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. 252 Whil the lawe is reuled so..I not how that thei scholde amende The woful world.
c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 9549 Wyth-out thise þe kyng had no myȝt ffor to rule his kynghed.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 1971 His ministeris that shuld the Iustice reull.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xii. 34 Think ȝe with ressoun thay suld reule the rod.
1609 T. Egerton Speech Lord Chancellor (new ed.) 37 We rule the Law according to the auncient course.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [verb (transitive)] > set
setc1400
temper1538
roll1583
rule1595
winda1616
to wind upa1616
to set forwarda1627
to set back1635
regulate1665
to put back1704
to put forward1741
to put on1826
time1873
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 179 Frekis in forstame rewllit weill thar ger.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 237 Ȝour hienes can nocht gett ane meter..To rewle ȝour robbis and dres the sam.
1535 D. Lindsay Satyre 2189 Sir, will ȝe reull this relict weill, All the wyfis will baith kis and kneill.
1595 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 114 To cause mend and rewll the knok within the said Gray Freiris Kirk.
1626 in W. Cramond Ann. Banff (1891) I. 55 To reull and hald the knok in temper sufficientlie daylie in tyme coming.
1656 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1881) II. 351 Johne Scott..to rewle and governe the saidis twa wallis.
3.
a. intransitive. Of a person: to govern, to reign; to hold supreme command or authority.divide and rule: see divide v. 1e.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > rule or govern [verb (intransitive)]
wieldOE
rixlec1175
rulea1382
governa1393
to have in (a person's) governinga1400
sway?1566
emperize1601
regularize1623
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 3 Kings iv. 14 Achymadab þe sone of Addo rewlede [L. praeerat] in Manahym.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 726 (MED) Schirreues scharply schiftys the comouns, Rewlys before þe ryche of the rounde table.
1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) i. 10 The heed must rule it can not be denyed.
1555 J. Heywood Two Hundred Epigrammes with Thyrde sig. B.iiii Better rule, then be rulde.
1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes xxxv, in Wks. I. 778 T' obay A Prince, that rules by'example, more than sway.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 226 There they shall..thir great Senate choose Through the twelve Tribes, to rule by Laws ordaind. View more context for this quotation
1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 197 Such a man, too fond to rule alone.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 195 There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule, The village master taught his little school.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Godiva in Poems (new ed.) II. 112 Godiva, wife to that grim Earl, who ruled In Coventry.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 121 Substituting their own will for the law of justice and love by which all true kings rule.
1908 M. A. Brown My Lady of Snows 221 The majority ruled, but the minority clamored from the prairie provinces.
1984 R. Dahl Boy 79 On the dormitory floor the Matron ruled supreme. This was her territory.
2005 M. E. Wiesner-Hanks Age of Voy. vii. 103 Elizabeth ruled for 45 years, one of the longest reigns in English history.
b. intransitive. In extended use of a thing: to have a presiding authority or influence.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [verb (intransitive)] > be superior in authority
rulea1398
predominate1589
over-command1598
over-order1850
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxiii. 124 Phisicians vsiþ to fynde þe pulse..in þe armes... For in somme parties þey mowe wel naȝt deme, for þey ben ferre from þe middel of herte, þat reuleþ and gouerneþ [L. cordis regentis].
1494 W. Hilton Scala Perfeccionis (de Worde) i. xx. sig. ciij Yf thou wyll haue the spiryte of god rulyng in thi herte: haue mekenes & drede hym.
a1529 J. Skelton Speke Parrot in Poet. Wks. (1843) II. 21 Frantiknes dothe rule and all thyng commaunde.
?1555 T. Paynell tr. J. L. Vives Office of Husband sig. D.ii They perswade vnto them selues, yt to loose theyr treasure is a thing intolerable, & therfore the goodes are not of more estimation, then is helth, but thaffection doth rule in thys thing.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. i. 111 What madnesse rules in braine-sicke men. View more context for this quotation
1657 R. Austen Spirituall Use of Orchard (new ed.) 120 The Graft..although it be predominant and rule in bringing forth good fruits.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 848 One Spirit in them rul'd, and every eye Glar'd lightning. View more context for this quotation
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. iii. 106 Yet while Reason rules, Let it hold forth its scales with equal hand.
1810 G. Crabbe Borough vii. 97 This love of Life, which in our Nature rules, To vile Imposture makes us Dupes and Tools.
1865 J. B. Mozley 8 Lect. Miracles vii. 290 In matters of ordinary life common sense of itself rules.
1927 Times 1 Feb. 8/5 His cursive..ruled for some 300 years, until it was finally dethroned by the Porsonian, which was modelled on Porson's own handwriting.
1958 H. Nemerov Mirrors & Windows iii. 75 Thy lobes and processes have trancéd me, My lust begins to rule.
1998 Z. Sardar Postmodernism & Other iv. 153 Postmodernism triumphs only where ignorance rules.
c. intransitive. To exercise sovereignty or authority over (also †upon) a person, a place, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > sole rule > rule over as monarch [verb (transitive)]
reigna1425
rule1488
monarchize1605
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 25 With Inglismen..Our all the toune rewlyng on thar awne wis.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 695/2 This emperour ruleth upon mo regyons than any one man hath done in our tyme.
1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes ii. xvii. 168 Peter and Baianus, the two Sonnes of one Simon a Monke, ruled ouer the Bulgarians.
1611 Bible (King James) Judges viii. 23 I will not rule ouer you, neither shall my sonne rule ouer you: the Lord shall rule ouer you. View more context for this quotation
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 113 One..which by their help is enabled to rule over and subdue all inferiour Creatures.
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. vii. 24 What time o'er Asia with pretorial sway Great Brutus ruled.
1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. II. xxi. 463 When the sun is said to rule over the day,..what else can be understood but that he acts as a vicegerent.
1812 G. Crabbe Tales xviii. 332 Better a woman o'er her house to rule, Than a poor child.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 2 Each of them ruling over his subjects with justice.
1924 Blackwood's Mag. Aug. 232/2 I ruled over as jolly a crowd of students as a Principal of a College can hope to collect.
1945 Fortune Mar. 156/2 The great civilized nations..have grown into so many sheer, uncontrolled ‘powers’, freebooting in a world where no authority, no law, no discipline rules over them.
1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art I. iv. 176 A life-and-death struggle, during which State after State was ruthlessly eliminated, to decide which should rule over all China.
1990 P. Bailey Immaculate Mistake 13 That chair was her throne, from which she ruled over her brood.
d. intransitive. slang (originally U.S.). Of a specified person or thing: to be very good or the best. Frequently in exclamatory phrases. Cf. —— rules OK! at OK int.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1968 H. Lit Unbelievable Dict. Hip Words 33 You're on top; the greatest, the boss, the leader of the pack; your word is the law because you rule!
1981 Action Now Feb. 11/1 Skateboarding still rules!
1999 Unity Nov. 8/1 Your mag rocks and Home Grown rules!
2000 J. Sonnenblick Dodger for President 38 Do you have any cards? I love War. Man, I rule at that game.
4.
a. transitive. Of a person: to govern, to exercise sovereign power over, to control with authority.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > rule or govern [verb (transitive)]
steera900
hold971
wieldOE
warda1000
redeOE
wisc1000
i-weldeOE
rightlecheOE
rightOE
raima1325
governc1325
guyc1330
rulea1387
justicec1390
rekea1400
reigna1413
lorda1450
earlc1450
seignoryc1475
over-govern1485
overrulec1488
emperyc1503
gubern?a1505
signorize1594
sway1613
gubernate1623
overlead1720
belord1858
prime minister1906
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 175 Oon of þe seuene wise men þat rulede [c1400 Tiber. reulede; L. judicabant] þe kyngdom of Perses.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iv. l. 9 He schal reule my Reame and Rede me þe beste.
a1475 (?1445) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 363 There God reulith both angel and man.
1486 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 54 I was regent and rewlid this rigion.
a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1977) 71 (MED) Thow Bethlem in Jewys lond..out [of] the a duke shal fond, Israel to rewyl myn pepyl best.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rev. ii. 27 He shal rule them with a rodde of yron.
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xviii. xxxii. 720 Christ was assumed into heauen, and by him is the church ruled.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) v. i. 95 Thou art..Not fit to gouerne and rule multitudes. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 49 Ye Deities..Who rule the Seasons, and the Year direct. View more context for this quotation
1735 A. Pope Of Char. of Women 14 She..That ne'er shall answer till a Husband cool, Or, if you rule him, never show you rule.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 19 Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. x*. 281 Them that guide the purse rule the house.
1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. i. ix. 57 To rule men, we must be men.
1914 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 45 14 It was commonly believed that humanity was ruled by a heavenful of gods.
1956 W. S. Churchill Hist. Eng.-speaking Peoples II. xxv Eventually a Catholic admiral ruled the Channel Fleet.
1992 W. T. Parsons & E. G. Cuthbertson Noxious Weeds Austral. 471/2 It provided the name ‘Plantagenet’ to the family which ruled England for more than 300 years.
b. transitive. In extended use of a thing: to dominate, control; to prevail in.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 27 Spiritus vitalis..sprediþ hymsilf in to alle þe lymes of þe body..and reuleþ & kepiþ þe workes þerof [L. eius operationes rectificat et custodit].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. i. B God made two greate lightes: one greater light to rule the daye, and a lesse light to rule the night.
1640 Whole Bk. Psalmes: ‘Bay Psalm Bk.’ cxxxvi. 8 The sunne to reull the day..Who did apoynt.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 138 Where Po first issues..And, awful in his Cradle, rules the Floods. View more context for this quotation
1726 J. Thomson Winter 1 See! Winter comes, to rule the varied Year.
a1771 T. Gray Ess. I in W. Mason Mem. Life & Writings (1775) 198 Suspends th' inferior laws, that rule our clay.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xi. 79 I now found that mechanical laws rule man in the long run.
1874 J. A. Symonds Sketches Italy & Greece (1879) 59 Soft undulating lines rule the composition.
1935 Mind 44 128 The difference between the subjective and the objective may be interpreted positivistically by the category of degree which rules the newer physics.
1964 Economist 12 Dec. 1256/1 The main geist which rules the Treasury is that of amenability.
1997 C. B. Divakaruni Mistress of Spices 247 Certain childhood phobias can rule your life.
c. transitive. Of an emotion, passion, etc.: to have a powerful and restricting or compelling influence on (a person). Usually in passive.
ΚΠ
1533 T. Elyot Of Knowl. Wise Man v. f. 100v He was rulid bi his affections.
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 170 (margin) Esau was ruled by his lusts. View more context for this quotation
1760 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (new ed.) xvii. 188 Tho' many individuals may escape the contagion, and be ruled by passions peculiar to themselves.
1799 tr. I. Kant Metaphysic of Morals I. Introd. p. xlviii The prohibition, not to suffer himself to be ruled by his feelings.
1810 tr. S. Cotton Saracen I. xii. 154 Thy brother is no traitor..but he is ruled by a passion too extraordinary not to be under the influence of some spell.
1879 L. Alldridge World she Awoke In I. ix. 143 It must not be thought that commonplace jealousy ruled Eula Des Anges.
1910 E. R. Canon Cities of Sun iii. iii. 69 Having cast love out of her life she was ruled by ambition.
1991 J. N. Gerstner Thousand Generation Covenant vi. 165 Evil passions ruled the inhabitants.
2006 Press (Christchurch, NZ) (Nexis) 23 Dec. 2 Abuse and neglect turned Nicky into an uncontrollable child ruled by hatred.
5. † b. intransitive in same sense. Obsolete.
a. transitive (reflexive). To conduct oneself; to behave or act in a certain way. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > behave or conduct oneself [verb (reflexive)]
wieldOE
leadc1175
bear?c1225
steera1250
to take onc1275
contain1297
to shift one's handa1300
demeanc1320
guyc1325
govern1340
keep1362
havec1390
rulec1390
guide14..
conceivea1425
maintain?a1425
maynea1425
behavec1440
disporta1450
orderc1487
use1497
handle?1529
convey1530
gesture1542
treat1568
carry1584
deport1598
bestow1606
comport1616
mienc1680
conduct1706
c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 139 (MED) God graunt vs grace to rule vs so Þat we may come to þi wonyng.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 294 (MED) Þenne in worlde watz a wyȝe wonyande on lyve, Ful redy and ful ryȝtwys and rewled hym fayre.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 758 Who so wold..rewelyn hym by euery wightes wit Shal he neuere þryue.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 341 Now avyse ye me..what I shall sey, and in what maner I shall rule me.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 101 (MED) Kepe wele all thi frendis, And kepe secrete thine owne counceyll; Beete the hownde nygh the lyon, And thus shuldest thou rule thiself.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 87 How sowld I rewill me..I wald sum wyisman wald dewyis.
c1600 W. Fowler tr. N. Machiavelli Prince in Wks. (1936) II. 136 A new prence..can not fascon nor reul him self efter Marcus actions.
1676 J. Mason Mentis Humanae Metamorphosis 39 Having well learn'd to rule himself aright, He's fit to rule th'unruly by his light.
1710 tr. S. von Pufendorf Law of Nature & Nations (ed. 2) Index at Societies How one ought to rule himself in the Distribution of Advantages and Charges amongst Members of the same Society.
1766 J. Burton Serm. Publick Occas. 337 Let him rule himself after God's word: this is the only uniform and infallible guide.
1875 tr. Select Revelations S. Mechtild iii. v. 165 Now, when she desired to know how she ought to rule herself, she understood that it should be according to the conversation of Christ.
1986 A. Hartle Death & Disinterested Spectator iii. 155 It seems to him that he should rule himself according to those with whom he would have to live.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > behave, conduct, or bear oneself [verb (intransitive)]
i-bereeOE
workeOE
makeOE
fere1154
walka1200
steera1250
to take onc1275
fare1340
to fare with oneself1340
containa1375
to let latesa1400
usea1400
dealc1400
rulea1425
act1593
comport1616
carry1650
deport1667
demean1678
behave1721
conduct1754
to carry on1828
a1425 Dialogue Reason & Adversity (Cambr.) (1968) 25 (MED) Forȝete þou not þis olde prouerbe: Alle is wel þat endeþ wel, & rule þer affter.
a1450 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 51 (MED) Nede it is hem to reule wiþ skille & namely in þe bigynnyng.
c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 272 (MED) Rewlers of rewmes..Were..yffoundid..to laboure on þe lawe..to strie strouters..And [not] to rewle as reremys and rest on þe daies.
6.
a. transitive. To moderate, restrain, curb (one's appetites, emotions, or behaviour) by the exercise of self-control.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restrain [verb (transitive)] > hold in check
bridleOE
tempera1050
chastec1230
to hold inc1300
straina1340
stintc1366
attemperc1380
restraina1387
rulea1391
ward1390
coarctc1400
obtemper?a1425
to hold or keep (a person) shortc1425
compesce1430
stent1488
coactc1520
repressa1525
compress1526
control1548
snaffle1555
temperatea1568
brank1574
halter1577
curb1588
shortena1599
to bear (a rein) upon1603
check1629
coerceate1657
bit1825
throttle1862
hold1901
a1391 J. Clanvow Two Ways (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1975) 66 Þus shal þe goode hoope of vs maken vs to reule wel oure flessh.
a1425 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 107 Þat alle þyne fyve wyttes scholde be yreuled after him.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 70 (MED) In þy etynge þow shalt reule þy hond.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 15v Withowt the feir of God na man can..richtly rewill his corrupt nature.
1579 S. Gosson Ephemerides Phialo f. 3 Though my selfe haue learned to rule mine owne talke, I can not snaffle the tounge of a Carper.
1611 Bible (King James) Prov. xvi. 32 He that ruleth his spirit [is better] then he that taketh a citie. View more context for this quotation
a1687 E. Waller Maid's Trag. Alter'd v, in Wks. (1729) 348 Can you expect, that she should be so sage To rule her blood, and you not rule your rage?
1732 S. Browne Def. Relig. Nature ii. 63 It was in his power and option, to be governed by these laws or not, to let his reason rule his appetites and passions.
1775 J. Hollis Hints & Ess. 145 It is the practice of every good man, to rule his temper.
1820 W. Scott Monastery II. v. 189 The good Abbot..commanded Halbert to rule his temper.
1895 Proc. 16th Ann. Session Internat. Hahnemannian Assoc. 266 We cannot do much with the husband who will not rule his appetites.
1903 Mind 12 36 If you can rule your tongue you can rule yourself.
1932 Middlesboro (Kentucky) Daily News 19 Jan. 1 He that can rule his tongue shall life [sic] without strife.
2005 J. Marillier Blade of Fortriu (2007) x. 295 The tight codes with which he had learned to rule his behavior and rein in his feelings.
b. transitive (reflexive). To exercise self-control; to practise moderation or restraint.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xvi. D He that can rule himselfe [L. qui dominatur anima sua], is more worth then he yt wynneth a cite.
a1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) iii. 9 Lat be the frennessy of luve..wald ȝe rewill ȝow keip this regiment: Be subteill [etc.].
1664 Advice of Father; or, Counsel to Child lviii. 79 He can never rule right, who cannot rule himself.
a1704 T. Brown Wks. (1707) I. 122 The cunning Designer gets into the Princes Favour, and rules the Monarch, who cannot rule himself or his own Family.
1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. x. 126 Every one who rules himself to decency and sobriety of conduct.
1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. xi. 374 I wanted chiefly to set forth the men that could rule themselves.
1921 M. H. Abel Successful Family Life on Moderate Income ix. 95 The woman who cannot rule herself in this matter of working until her nerves are frazzled.
1946 P. Spring Harlequinade 6 It is within the Divine purpose, as stated in Genesis, that man should rule the earth once he has learned to rule himself.
2002 R. McCabe Spenser's Monstrous Regiment (2005) iv. 94 The female sovereign must rule herself, controlling those elements of her feminine ‘nature’ that impede the business of government.
7. transitive. Christian Church. To lead or direct the singing of (a choir). Cf. ruler n.1 1c. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > other clergy > [verb (intransitive)] > act as a precentor
rulea1425
precent1660
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > sing [verb (transitive)] > lead choir
governc1410
rulea1425
a1425 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 1900) (1879) VII. 501 This Robart..wolde inn heyȝ festes of seyntes inn som abbay..synge other bere a cope and rule the queor [L. chorum rexit].
a1688 J. Wallace Descr. Orkney (1693) ix. 46 A Precentor who was to rule the singers in the Quire.
1814 W. Dodsworth Hist. Acct. Salisbury ii. i. 100 The office of the Chanter is to rule the choir, and superintend the singing.
1898 W. H. Frere Use of Sarum I. Index 306/2 The rules for the days when the choir was ruled.
1911 P. Monroe Cycl. Educ. (1919) I. 436/1 The precentor handed over his staff of office, with which he ruled the choir, to a boy precentor.
1989 C. M. Wright Music & Ceremony at Notre Dame iii. 100 He personally ruled the choir, assisted by three singing men.
8. transitive. Astrology. Of a celestial object, esp. a planet: to exert a powerful or predominating influence over (a planet, person, period, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > as influence on mankind > influence [verb (transitive)]
governa1393
rulec1449
irradiate1603
constellate1646
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 242 (MED) These men aspieden..that the seid parties of heuen reuliden..the worchingis of bodies here binethe.
a1464 J. Capgrave Chron. Eng. (Cambr.) 10 (MED) The bodies in erd be mech reuled after the planetis above.
a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 229 (MED) The warld gan wax and multiply, The planetes mad hem full besy To rowll ychy thyng by and by.
?1655 R. Baron Mirza iii. 70 I burn, I burn, the dog-star rules me.
1674 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. (ed. 3) iv. iii. 130 If it be Munday, that is the Moons day..the Planet reigning the first Hour shall be ☽, the Planet ruling the second Hour shall be ♄.
1701 J. Whalley tr. Ptolemy Quadripartite i. xxi. 37 The ⊙ and ♃ therefore Rules this Trigon.
?1790 Universal Fortune Teller i. 33 You will find against ♀ 7, which shews you that Venus rules that hour.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Triumph of Life in Posthumous Poems (1824) 83 The star that ruled his doom was far too fair.
1879 Papers for Times I. 60 It would certainly puzzle us to explain why the planet Saturn should be supposed to ‘rule’ the seventh day of the week rather than the first.
1903 E. M. Wood Beginnings of Faith & Sci. v. 62 It was the prevailing belief of those early times that the stars ruled the destinies of man.
1972 D. Lees Zodiac 98 He was born on the fourth of October which means he is ruled by Venus.
1991 C. Mansall Discover Astrol. iv. 48/1 The First House (ruled by Mars and associated with Aries).
9.
a. Business. Now chiefly South Asian.
(a) intransitive. Of a price: to be current or prevalent; to be at a certain rate or value.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [verb (intransitive)] > be at a certain rate (of prices)
rule1629
1629 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. 2nd Ser. III. 11 Till they be trewlie informed how the pryces of the said victuall rules in suche parts of the countrie.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxv. 115 The..shepherds courteously intreated them to give them some for their money, as the price then ruled in the market.
c1680 J. Lauder in Sc. Lore (1895) I. 83 The great misterie of trade..consistes in correspondence abroad and information how pryces reules.
1856 T. De Quincey Confessions Eng. Opium-eater (rev. ed.) in Select. Grave & Gay V. 138 Which same prices..ruled..among the same kind of scenery.
1889 Daily News 28 May 2/8 Sales dragged somewhat, prices ruling about the same as on Monday last.
1912 Econ. Jrnl. 22 494 A pair of ordinary plough bullocks costs from Rs. 50 to Rs. 100, but in case of Gujerati and other good strains the price often rules much higher.
1964 Financial Times 3 Mar. 2/3 Prices yesterday ruled fully firm for all descriptions of merino fleece and skirtings.
2006 M. Gaur Indian Affairs Ann. VII. 352 Wheat prices were ruling high throughout the country in the first two weeks of January.
(b) intransitive. Of a commodity or trade: to bear a specified price or value; to maintain a particular average or quality.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [verb (intransitive)] > be at a certain price
rule1690
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (intransitive)] > state of market or prices
close1860
rule1881
1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 381 How rule swine here?
1717 J. Steuart Let.-bk. (1915) 58 I hope youll take care immediately to..aquent me how my Lord Banf would sell his meall of present Crop, and how you think meall rule this year with you.
1859 C. Reade Love me Little I. xii. 312 The Greek stock ruled from 56½–59.
1881 Daily News 17 Jan. 3/4 Trade ruled dull at barely late rates.
1887 W. Rye Month on Norfolk Broads 77 Things rule at starvation prices here.
1924 Times 21 Jan. 18/2 Cash coffee ruled steady, with Rio No. 7 quoted at 10¾c.
1979 Morning News (Karachi) 24 May 7/1 In the jutes section Indus and Pak Jute ruled firm. Sugar shares were irregular.
2001 S. S. Kaptan & S. A. Telang New Instruments of Finance in India iv. 93 Its voting shares are ruling at Rs. 40 in the market.
b. intransitive. To go a certain way, to fare; to be in a particular state or condition. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)] > exist in or be situated in
standOE
to have placea1398
exist1585
rely1591
subsist1593
to find place1598
seat1604
rulec1654
c1654 J. A. Wilson in Trans. Lit. & Antiquarian Soc. Perth (1827) 1 12 The Noblemen and Ministers residing at Edinburgh, sent privately to him his nighbour the L. Cranstoun, to bring them intelligence how matters ruled at court.
1890 John Bull 5 Apr. 222/3 If these opinions..rule uppermost in the minds of the other eleven members of the Committee.
1891 Daily News 30 Sept. 4/6 Fields ruled good, and some interesting racing was witnessed.
1907 T. Gallon Cruise of Make-believes xvi. 256 The same condition of things ruled with the men.
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. June 409/1 During the past year the longest period when the wind velocity ruled below five miles per hour was only seven days.
II. Senses relating to line or order.† 11. transitive. Scottish. To arrange or set in order. Obsolete.
10.
a. transitive. To mark (paper, a book, etc.) with parallel straight lines, for writing, musical notation, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > draw lines [verb (transitive)] > mark with ruled lines
rulea1398
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > draw lines [verb (transitive)] > draw ruled line
rulea1398
strike1611
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 196 Þough siluer be white, it makeþ blake lynes..in þe body þat is..y-reweled [L. impressum] þer with.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 432 Rewlyn, wythe instrument, regulo.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 695/2 This paper is nat well ruled, I can nat pricke upon it.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Linea To rule a booke.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Rosette Red Inke to rule bookes with.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. iv. 16 You must rule your Paper or Parchment with..Merid. Lines, and Parallel Lines.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Rostrum Rostrum is also used to signify an instrument wherewith paper is ruled for musical compositions.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. II. 54 Some sort of a field-book must be used... This book every one contrives and rules as he thinks fittest for himself.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. iii. 18 He finished ruling the work he had in hand..in a very neat and methodical manner.
1896 T. Hardy Under Greenwood Tree (rev. ed.) Pref. p. vi Just enough..to pay for their fiddle-strings, rosin, and music-paper (which they mostly ruled themselves).
1935 Mod. Lang. Notes 50 504 The paper is ruled after the same fashion as that of the St. John's College copy.
1974 M. Beit-Arié in J. O. Leibowitz & S. Marcus Moses Maimonides: On Causes of Symptoms 37 The manuscript was ruled in an unusual way.
2000 K. B. Ackerman Pract. Handbk. Warehousing (ed. 4) 396 It is even better to rule the pages horizontally and print the picking information within the rules.
b.
(a) transitive. To form or draw (a line) with or as with a ruler.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > mark [verb (transitive)] > with lines
score1495
line1530
strike1539
lineate1558
interline1572
rule1599
quote1601
1599 M. Drayton Idea in Englands Heroicall Epist. (new ed.) sig. Q4 v Age rules my lines with wrincles in my face.
1659 J. Collins Geom. Dyalling 63 I call the Tangent Scheam, because a Line ruled any way over it, shall be divided also into a Tangent of the like hours and quarters.
1677 Compl. Servant-maid 18 Rule double lines that you may keep your Letters even at head and foot.
1744 W. Mountaine Atkinson's Epitome Art Navigation (rev. ed.) xii. 266 Rule 12 Lines cross the foresaid 5 Columns, and so far asunder, that on Occasion you may write two Lines of writing in the Spaces between those Lines.
1789 C. O'Brien Calico Printer's Assistant I. sig. D2v Rule a line from the bottom of the curve to B, fig. 77.
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia Ruled-paper, paper on which the staves are ruled for receiving the written notes of any musical composition.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2001/1 The round form [of ruler] is very convenient for ruling parallel lines by one accustomed to its use.
1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse i. i. 20 A note-book and pencil with which she wrote down in columns carefully ruled for the purpose wages and spendings.
1975 Musical Times 116 128/2 Each stave on this paper was ruled separately with a single-stave rastrum.
2007 D. Sterrett Primary Art: Bk. E (2008) 114 Rule a straight line from each small dot to both large dots.
(b) transitive. figurative or in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1603 N. Breton Dialogue Pithe & Pleasure sig. E.1v Is not the firmament, as it were ruled out, the earth as it were chalked out, and the sea, as it were cut out?
1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Aug. 145/1 His actions seemed ruled with a ruler.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 206 The sunbeams..ruled a beam of light across the glacier.
1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin i. 18 As he rose up, the moon with slanted ray Ruled for those rapid hoofs a shining way.
1998 P. Gross Wasting Game 46 The chainsaws ruling a new edge to the forest.
c. transitive. With off. To subdivide (a sheet of paper, etc.) with horizontal or vertical ruled lines; to demarcate (a column, section, etc.) in this way.
ΚΠ
1792 W. Skirving Husbandman's Assistant ii. ix. 156 A column should be ruled off, broad enough for writing down the appearance of the sky.
1819 C. O'Conor Bibliotheca MS Stowensis II. 334 The margins are ruled off in red ink.
1890 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 21 Dec. 10/1 A green felt mat..is ruled off, exactly like a lawn tennis court.
1964 J. Bernstein Analyt. Engine i. 7 This is a piece of pale-green paper..ruled off into about fifteen hundred rectangles, each of which can be filled in with a digit, a letter, or a punctuation mark.
1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. (ed. 8) xi. 344 A cash book may consist of a normal A4-sized book which is ruled off to provide different columns for various types of expenditure.
2006 Bangor (Maine) Daily News (Nexis) 26 Dec. c2 A piece of antique white linen which has been ruled off into a grid of various-size squares and rectangles.
d. transitive. Bookkeeping and Accounting. With off. To close (an account, the books, etc.) at the end of a certain period. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > keep accounts [verb (transitive)] > enter in an account > other book-keeping procedures
control1422
avouch1539
allocate1551
respond1588
score1592
carry1652
post1707
to carry forward1721
off-reckon1721
O. Ni.a1726
to carry over1745
rule1845
to write down1876
to close off188.
qualify1884
accrue1915
net1947
gross1954
strip1980
1845 W. J. Norfolk Gen. Princ. Banking 24 At the end of such periods, it is customary to rule off the account, and carry down the balance.
1849 T. Jones Book-keeping & Accountantship (1850) ii. 113 Balance and rule off all accounts on the Ledger except Personal accounts.
1875 China Mail-service (Rep. Comm. House of Representatives 2nd Sess., 43rd Congr.) 203 When we ruled off our books and brought our loans down we took them off in this way to indicate how the books were kept.
1921 T. Conyngton et al. Wills, Estates, & Trusts II. lxxi. 650 There is now no balance in any account and the books should be ruled off as finally closed.
1978 Times 17 Aug. 21/3 Houses ruled off anywhere between 2 per cent and 4 per cent.
1989 Times 23 Jan. 22/1 Fisons has just ruled off its financial year.
2000 Daily Tel. 20 June 25/1 When the previous books were ruled off in March 1999, there were just over three billion shares in issue.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrange [verb (transitive)]
stightc825
fadec1020
orderc1225
adightc1275
dightc1275
castc1320
raila1350
form1362
stightlea1375
rayc1380
informa1382
disposea1387
throwc1390
addressa1393
shifta1400
rengea1425
to set forth?c1450
rule1488
rummage1544
marshalc1547
place1548
suit1552
dispone1558
plat1587
enrange1590
draw1663
range1711
arrange1791
to lay out1848
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 279 Wallace..Rewellyt speris all in a nowmyr round.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 468 Dyamountis and Sapheir, Riche Rubeis in feir, Reulit full richt.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 673 The rufe reulit about in reuall of Reid, Rois reulit Ryally [etc.].
1603 Prophecie of Bertlington in Whole Prophesie Scotl. sig. A8v With him an rayment of Ratches rewled right.
III. Senses relating to decrees, decisions, or rulings.
12.
a. transitive. To pronounce judicially or authoritatively; to determine, decree. With clause as object, or with object and complement.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > order judicially
judgea1325
discernc1425
rule1425
sentencec1503
decree1530
award1533
decerna1575
sententiate1593
1425 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Apr. 1425 §12. m. 2 My lord of Warrewyk myght be at his fredom, seyng howe þat court had ruled his presence to been absent, to adde and sette to þere as was to lite.
1621 R. Crakanthorpe Def. Constantine ii. xii. 228 It was ruled, that the said Excommunication should not be allowed.
1681 Arraignm. & Plea E. Fitz-Harris 46 It was Ruled by the Court, that the first should be quasht as insufficient.
1720 T. Salmon Tryals for High-treason IV. 275 The Court ruled, That in Cases of Treason, Accomplices were Legal Witnesses.
1799 I. Espinasse Rep. Cases Nisi Prius II. 727 It was ruled, That the Defendant was discharged by virtue of the writ of supersedeas.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) VI. 356 This case was heard before the Privy Council in 1730, when it was ruled that Lucretia took an estate tail.
1850 J. H. Newman Lect. Diffic. Anglicans (1891) I. i. i. 15 Public opinion..rules that every conclusion is absurd..except such as it recognizes itself.
1885 Manch. Examiner 16 May 6/1 Mr. O'Brien..was ruled out of order on an attempt to discuss the political bearings of the recent visit to Ireland.
1928 H. G. Wells Mr. Blettsworthy iii. 154 He it was had first ruled me insane and immune from Reproof.
1963 Times 18 Feb. 10/2 When an appeal was made the umpire ruled that it was a bump ball.
1986 Daily Express 20 Aug. 7 A baby hedgehog..was ruled too small to travel.
2005 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 2 Dec. 21/3 A Canadian man was acquitted this week of sexual assault after a judge ruled he was asleep during the attack.
b. transitive. To decide or settle (a matter); to make a ruling concerning. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > command [verb (transitive)] > ordain, prescribe, or appoint
asetc885
teachc897
deemc900
ashapea1000
i-demeOE
setc1000
shiftc1000
stevenOE
redeOE
willOE
lookc1175
showc1175
stablea1300
devise1303
terminea1325
shapec1330
stightlea1375
determinec1384
judgea1387
sign1389
assize1393
statute1397
commanda1400
decree1399
yarka1400
writec1405
decreetc1425
rule1447
stallc1460
constitute1481
assignc1485
institute1485
prescribec1487
constitue1489
destinate1490
to lay down1493
make?a1513
call1523
plant1529
allot1532
stint1533
determ1535
appointa1538
destinec1540
prescrive1552
lot1560
fore-appoint1561
nominate1564
to set down1576
refer1590
sort1592
doom1594
fit1600
dictate1606
determinate1636
inordera1641
state1647
fix1660
direct1816
1447 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 27 (MED) The whiche by the seide lordis this last terme..thus ruled, and commaunded nywe bondis to be made.
c1475 Mankind (1969) l. 842 (MED) Trowthe may not so cruelly procede in hys streyt argument But þat Mercy schall rewle þe mater wythowte contrauersye.
1509 in W. Fraser Scotts of Buccleuch (1878) II. 118 All..contrauersis..sall be rewlit and decidit be myd persouns.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 112 Shewing howe much it importeth a noble man & magistrate, ruling weighty causes, to haue his eares open to heare.
1642 C. Vernon Considerations Excheqver 26 The..Remembrancer is not to rule any such petition for an absolute exon. [etc.].
1657 A. B. tr. J. Buxtorf Jewish Synagogue xxxvi. 333 I have attempted more then they themselves, if they could have ruled the matter, would have permitted.
1843 J. H. Newman Ess. Miracles 105 Without ruling open questions this way or that.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. liv This most complaisant of men would have seen no harm,..if Pendennis the elder had so ruled it.
1873 H. E. H. King Disciples: Ugo Bassi (1877) vii. 252 An order came To set us free; the statesmen having ruled Our ransom.
1900 Southeastern Reporter 36 779/2 The point in question has also been expressly decided by the supreme court of Ohio... That court ruled the question in the following language.
2003 L. Favali & R. Pateman Blood, Land, & Sex viii. 185 Not all traditional laws rule the matter in the same way.
13. Now rare.
a. transitive. To appoint or order (a person) to do something. Also occasionally without infinitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > command [verb (transitive)] > ordain, prescribe, or appoint > to do something
ordaina1325
disponec1374
rule1448
appoint1496
awarda1538
allot1566
to knock down1759
to set on1852
1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) 47 (MED) Thought my lord of Exceter were avysed and ruled so to come.
1473–5 in Cal. Proc. Chancery Queen Elizabeth (1830) II. p. lviii Which John Saunder, by auctorite of this court, is ruled to enterplede with the seide Johan.
1623 T. Powell Attourneys Acad. 42 Rule him to make restitution, or to performe other acts, according to the equitie of the cause.
1658 tr. E. Coke Reports x. 981 No Judgement ought to have been against the Defendant, but the Court ought to have ruled him to answer over.
1766 Rules & Orders Court of Exchequer 10 If upon hearing the Exceptions the Defendant be ruled to answer, the Defendant shall forthwith pay to the Plaintiff or his Attorney in Court, three Pounds Costs.
1836 Legal Observer 23 July 230/1 The sheriff not having proceeded as directed, the attorney ruled him to return the writ.
1867 Rep. Supreme Court Louisiana 18 223 The plaintiff then ruled him to show cause why the said injunction should not be dissolved.
1884 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 26 650 The sheriff was ruled for not returning an attachment against Briggs.
1919 Northeastern Reporter 120 780/1 The court made an order..ruling her to elect..whether she would accept the additional sum of $2,000 and dismiss the suit or return the $1,500.
b. transitive. To bring into a certain state or place by means of a rule or ruling.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to or into an action or state > by laying down rule
rulec1449
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 297 Therfore it [sc. the text] reulith no more prelatis into pouerte than ech lay persoon into pouerte.
1837 Southern Lit. Messenger July 402/2 Those great laws impressed upon them by the omnipotent arm which bind them to their orbits, and rule them into order and harmony.
1893 C. G. Leland Memoirs I. 91 Freedom from bad marks, and being ruled into bounds, and sent to bed at early hours.
1920 Southern Reporter 84 795/1 Defendant thereupon ruled her into court to show cause why the injunction should not be dissolved.
Phrases
P1. to rule a planet: see planet n. 1c.
P2.
a. to rule the roast: see roast n. Phrases 2a.
b. to rule the rout: see rout n.1 Phrases 4.
c. to rule the roost: see roost n.1 Phrases 2.
Phrasal verbs
Originally U.S. to rule in to rule out
transitive. To allow; to admit as a possibility. Opposed to to rule out at Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > condition or state of being inclusive > include [verb (transitive)] > include as a possibility
to rule in1830
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > allow, admit of [verb (transitive)] > include as possibility
to rule in1830
to factor into ——1926
to factor in1964
1830 Rep. T. Upham v. Hill & Barton, Court of Common Pleas, Rockingham County (New Hampsh.) 56 We understand then, that the letter of Upham and Garland is ruled out. Chief Justice. No such thing—it has been ruled in.
1867 Galaxy 15 Mar. 608 Everything about our house is ruled in or ruled out by the family inkstand. Pork it proscribes with more than Jewish severity.
1904 G. B. Shaw Let. 6 Dec. (1972) II. 471 It is just this personality that rules her out, whereas if we had a scrap of originality it would rule her in.
1973 Observer 17 June 1/1 I haven't ruled it out and I haven't ruled it in.
1994 Independent on Sunday 23 Oct. 2/5 The former party chairman's suggestion had been neither ruled in or ruled out.
1. transitive. To exclude by a ruling or other formal decision; to rule as inadmissible. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1798 J. Root Rep. Superior Court & Supreme Court of Errors 1 226 A deposition drawn up by one Ambrose Spencer, agent for the plaintiff, was ruled out by the court.
1830 Rep. Trial John Francis Knapp 34 I call the attention of the Court to the principle, which is to give his confession against him, which has already been ruled out.
1893 Times 6 May 13/4 Four instructions were ruled out..as capable of being dealt with in Committee.
1922 Pacific Reporter 206 390/1 Both these affidavits were ruled out by the court.
1987 H. H. Martin Atlanta & Environs III. 137 The presiding judge ruled out testimony on Refoule's love life.
2002 M. K. Geiter & W. A. Speck Colonial Amer. v. 83 This kind of testimony was ruled out, and the cases then collapsed.
2. transitive. More generally: to eliminate as a possibility; to decide against; to discount. Also with out of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being exclusive > exclude [verb (transitive)] > rule out
eliminate1848
to rule out1866
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > impossibility > render impossible [verb (transitive)] > eliminate as possibility
eliminate1848
to rule out1866
to factor out1911
1866 Rural Amer. (Utica, N.Y.) 15 Mar. 88/3 One candidate, the Hubbardston Nonsuch was ruled out, because the fruit will not keep in good condition till the first of February.
1890 Spectator 7 May Resolved not to see expressions ruled out of the language merely because they are new.
1928 Daily Tel. 12 June 13/4 The possibility of a battle between the rival Southern commanders cannot be ruled out.
1966 C. Mackenzie Paper Lives vi. 85 The Right Honourable Henry Upjohn thought for a moment about trying that joke at the next political meeting in his constituency but ruled it out at once.
2006 New Scientist 4 Feb. 9/2 No one has managed to devise an experiment that would categorically rule out the possibility that RF radiation is causing hotspots.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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