regent

From Middle English regent, from Anglo-Norman regent, Middle French regent, and their source, Latin regēns (“ruling; ruler, governor, prince”), present participle of regō (“I govern, I steer”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

regent (plural regents)

1. (now rare) A ruler. [from 15th c.]
2. One who rules in place of the monarch, especially because the monarch is too young, absent, or disabled. [from 15th c.]
3. (now chiefly historical) A member of a municipal or civic body of governors, especially in certain European cities. [from 16th c.]
   • 1999, Geert Mak, translated by Philipp Blom, Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City, Vintage, published 2001, page 139:

     This perception, however, does no justice to the regents of the city of Amsterdam.

4. (Scotland, Canada, US) A member of governing board of a college or university; also a governor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. [from 18th c.]
5. (Indonesia) The chief executive of a regency

regent (comparative more regent, superlative most regent)

1. Ruling; governing; regnant.
   • a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC:

     Some other active regent principle […] which we call the soul.

2. Exercising vicarious authority.
   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     the regent powers

• “regent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “regent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Engert, gerent, Tenger, Genter

Borrowed from Latin regentem.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [rəˈʒen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [rəˈʒent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [reˈd͡ʒent]
• Rhymes: -ent

regent m or f (masculine and feminine plural regents)

1. regent, governing

regent m or f by sense (plural regents)

1. regent

• corregent.
• regentar

• regència
• regir

• “regent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

Borrowed from German Regent.

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛɡɛnt]

regent m anim

1. regent (one who rules in place of the monarch)

• See režim

• “regent”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “regent”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “regent”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Via German Regent and French régent from Latin regēns, a present participle of the verb Latin regō (“to rule”) (whence Danish regere).

• IPA^(key): [ʁɛˈɡ̊ɛnˀd̥]

regent c (singular definite regenten, plural indefinite regenter)

1. (politics) a monarch, a regent (one who rules)

• “regent” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Middle Dutch regent, from Middle French regent, from Old French regent, from Latin regēns.

• IPA^(key): /rəˈɣɛnt/, /reːˈɣɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: re‧gent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

regent m (plural regenten, diminutive regentje n, feminine regentes)

1. regent, acting head of state in a monarch's place
2. (Belgium) a secondary school teacher whose non-university degree only qualifies to teach in the lower grades

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈreːɣənt/

• Audio:

  (file)

regent

1. inflection of regenen:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. (archaic) plural imperative

• tenger

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈrɛ.ɡɛnt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈrɛː.d͡ʒen̪t̪]

regent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of regō

From Old French regent, see below.

regent m (plural regens)

1. regent

• → English: regent
• French: régent

• regent on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

From Latin regens.

regent m (definite singular regenten, indefinite plural regenter, definite plural regentene)

1. a regent, monarch, ruler

• prinsregent

• “regent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “regent” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Latin regens.

regent m (definite singular regenten, indefinite plural regentar, definite plural regentane)

1. a regent, monarch, ruler

• prinsregent

• “regent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin regēns (“ruling, as a noun, a ruler, governor, prince”); present participle of regō (“I govern, I steer”).

regent oblique singular, m (oblique plural regens, nominative singular regens, nominative plural regent)

1. regent (one who reigns in the absence of a monarch)

• Middle French: regent
  • → English: regent
  • French: régent

Borrowed from German Regent.

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ.ɡɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡɛnt
• Syllabification: re‧gent

regent m pers (female equivalent regentka, related adjective regencki)

1. regent (person who rules in place of the monarch)
2. (historical) official in charge of a royal chancellery, a secretary to the chancellor or the sub-chancellor; also: an official looking after the chancellery and court archives

• regent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• regent in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• regent in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed from French regent, from Latin regēns.

regent m (plural regenți)

1. regent

regent c

1. a monarch or a regent, one who rules

• regnet