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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

reign

/ɹeɪn/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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It sounds like “rain.”

Use one syllable, beginning with r and ending with n. The g is silent; give the middle vowel the same sound as the vowel in day.

1 syllable

TRY SAYING
The story takes place during her reign.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

What does reign mean?

noun

  1. The exercise of sovereign power.
  2. The period during which a monarch rules.
  3. The territory or sphere over which a kingdom; empire; realm; dominion, etc. is ruled.
More meanings (5)

verb

  1. To exercise sovereign power, to rule as a monarch.
  2. To be the winner of the most recent iteration of a competition.
  3. To be a dominant quality of a place or situation; to prevail, predominate, rule.
  4. (rare) To reign over (a country)

proper noun

  1. A male given name.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ɹeɪn/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ɹeɪ̯n/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

The angular hollows and lines of his aged ancestors had succeeded to their reign in his face twenty years before their time.
Thomas HardyTess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure WomanProject Gutenberg ebook #110
These, by revealing more and more clearly the reign of law, steadily undermined the older theological view of arbitrary influence in nature.
Andrew Dickson WhiteHistory of the Warfare of Science with Theology in ChristendomProject Gutenberg ebook #505
More book examples (3)
Dunstan had been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan with having taken some of the last king’s money.
Charles DickensA Child's History of EnglandProject Gutenberg ebook #699
Another Act passed in the same reign, related to the repairs of bridges and of the highways at the ends of bridges.
Samuel SmilesThe Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer With an Introductory History of Roads and Travelling in Great BritainProject Gutenberg ebook #939
In the campaigns of the French during the reign of Louis XIV., the most of the offensive battles were of this kind.
Carl von ClausewitzOn WarTranslated by J. J. (James John) GrahamProject Gutenberg ebook #1946