ruler

ruler

English

A ruler (measuring device).

Etymology

From Middle English reuler; equivalent to rule +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːlə(ɹ)/
• (UK, goose split) IPA^(key): (measuring device) [ˈɹʉwlə], (one who rules) [ˈɹʊwlə]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹulɚ/

  • audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -uːlə(ɹ)

Noun

ruler (plural rulers)

1. A (usually rigid), flat, rectangular measuring or drawing device with graduations in units of measurement; a straightedge with markings.
2. A person who rules or governs; someone or something that exercises dominion or controlling power over others.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 122:

     The carcharhinids are unquestionably the rulers of the seas, because of their abundance, their strength and speed, and their unchallenged position as the number one predators in the marine ecosystem.

   • 1991, Mullin, Chris, The Year of the Fire Monkey‎ (Fiction), London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, OCLC 26471461, page 252:

     LIKE THE MANDARINS of old, the rulers of China live behind high walls. When they emerge, which they rarely do, they travel in cars with rear windows curtained like sedan chairs.
     They live in the Chung Nan Hai, a walled park adjacent to the Forbidden City from where ancient dynasties ruled the Celestial Empire.

Usage notes

In American English, the word "ruler" is often used specifically to refer to such a measuring device that is one foot (12 inches) long. Used in contrast with "yardstick" and "meter stick."

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:ruler
• (measuring instrument): rule

Hyponyms

• See Thesaurus:ruler

Translations

measuring or drawing device

Afrikaans: liniaal (af), liniale (af) pl Albanian: vizore (sq) f Arabic: مِسْطَرَة‎ f (misṭara) Egyptian Arabic: مسطرة‎ f (masṭara) South Levantine Arabic: مسطرة‎ f (másṭara) Armenian: քանոն (hy) (kʿanon) Asturian: regla (ast) f Azerbaijani: xətkeş (az), xətçəkən Basque: please add this translation if you can Belarusian: ліне́йка f (linjéjka) Bengali: মাপনী (mapônī) Bulgarian: лини́йка f (liníjka) Burmese: မျည်းတံ (myany:tam) Catalan: regle (ca) m Central Dusun: tutuku Cherokee: ᎠᏥᎶᏍᏗ (atsilosdi) Chinese: Cantonese: 直尺 (zik6 cek3) Dungan: чызы (čɨzɨ) Mandarin: 尺 (zh) (chǐ), 直尺 (zh) (zhíchǐ), 尺子 (zh) (chǐzi) Min Nan: 尺 (zh-min-nan) (chhioh) Czech: pravítko (cs) n Danish: lineal Dutch: meetlat (nl), liniaal (nl) Esperanto: liniilo Estonian: joonlaud Finnish: viivain (fi), viivoitin (fi) French: règle (fr) f, latte (fr) f Galician: regra (gl) f Georgian: სახაზავი (saxazavi) German: Lineal (de) n Greek: χάρακας (el) m (chárakas) Ancient: χάραξ m (khárax) Hebrew: סַרְגֵל‎ (he) m (sargél) Hindi: पैमाना (hi) (paimānā) Hungarian: vonalzó (hu) Icelandic: reglustika f Ido: linealo (io) Indonesian: penggaris (id), mistar (id) Irish: rialóir m Italian: righello (it) m Japanese: 定規 (ja) (じょうぎ, jōgi), 物差し (ものさし, monosashi), ルーラー (rūrā) Kalmyk: кимзә (kimzä) Kannada: ಅಳತೆ ಪಟ್ಟಿ (kn) (aḷate paṭṭi) Kazakh: сызғыш (kk) (syzğyş) Khmer: បន្ទាត់ (km) (bɑntŏət) Korean: 자 (ko) (ja) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: rastkêş (ku), cedwel (ku) Kyrgyz: сызгыч (ky) (sızgıç) Lao: ໄມ້ບັນທັດ (lo) (mai ban that) Latgalian: linejals m Latin: rēgula f Latvian: lineāls (lv) m Lithuanian: liniuotė f Lü: ᦺᦙᧉᦶᦑᧅ (may²taek) Macedonian: линијар m (linijar) Malay: pembaris (ms) Maltese: riga f Manchu: ᡱᡳ (c'y), ᠵᡠᡧᡠᡵᡠ (jušuru) Mongolian: Cyrillic: шугам (mn) (šugam) Navajo: bee ídaʼneelʼąąhí Nepali: नाप (nāp), स्केल (skel) Norman: relle f Norwegian: Bokmål: linjal (no) m Nynorsk: linjal m Old English: regolsticca m Pashto: ختکه‎ f (xatáka), خط کښ‎ m (xat káӽ) Persian: خط‌کش‎ (xatkeš), خط کش‎ (fa) (xat keš) Polish: linijka (pl) f Portuguese: régua (pt) f Romanian: riglă (ro) f, linie (ro) f Russian: лине́йка (ru) f (linéjka) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: цр̏тало n, ра̀внало n Roman: cȑtalo (sh) n, ràvnalo (sh) n Slovak: pravítko n Slovene: ravnilo (sl) n Spanish: regla (es) f Swahili: masharti (sw) Swedish: linjal (sv) c Tagalog: galod Tajik: хат (tg) (xat), хаткашак (xatkašak) Tatar: сызгыч (tt) (sızgıç), җәдвәл (cädwäl) Thai: ไม้บรรทัด (th) (mái-ban-tát) Tigrinya: መስመር (mäsmär) Turkish: cetvel (tr) Turkmen: lineýka Ukrainian: ліні́йка f (liníjka) Uyghur: سىزغۇچ‎ (sizghuch) Uzbek: lineyka (uz), chizgʻich (uz) Vietnamese: thước kẻ (vi), thước (vi) Welsh: pren mesur (cy) m, llinellydd m Zazaki: peymenek c, mastar m

person who rules or governs

Afrikaans: heerser Albanian: sundimtar (sq) m Arabic: حَاكِم‎ m (ḥākim) Egyptian Arabic: حاكم‎ m (ḥakem) Armenian: տիրակալ (hy) (tirakal) Azerbaijani: hökmdar (az), hakim (az), hökmran Bashkir: батша (batşa), хаким (xakim) Belarusian: праві́цель m (pravícjelʹ) Bengali: শাসক (śasôkô) Bulgarian: властели́н (bg) m (vlastelín), господа́р (bg) m (gospodár), владе́тел (bg) m (vladétel) Burmese: အုပ်ချုပ်သောသူ (uphkyupsau:su) Catalan: líder (ca) m, governant (ca) m Cherokee: ᎤᎬᏫᏳᎯ (ugvwiyuhi) Chinese: Mandarin: 統治者／统治者 (zh) (tǒngzhìzhě) Czech: vládce (cs) m Danish: hersker (da) Dutch: heerser (nl) m Egyptian: (ḥqꜣ) Esperanto: regnestro Estonian: riigivalitseja Finnish: hallitsija (fi) French: dirigeant (fr) m, chef (fr) m Georgian: მმართველი (mmartveli) German: Herrscher (de) m Gothic: 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 m (reiks), 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 m (fraujinōnds) Greek: κυβερνήτης (el) m (kyvernítis) Ancient: ἀρχός m (arkhós), ἄρχων m (árkhōn), ἡγεμών m (hēgemṓn) Haitian Creole: chèf Hebrew: מַנְהִיג‎ (he) m (manhíg), שַׁלִּיט‎ m (shálit) Hindi: शासक (hi) m (śāsak) Hungarian: uralkodó (hu) Indonesian: penguasa (id) Irish: rialtóir m Italian: sovrano (it) m Japanese: 支配者 (しはいしゃ, shihaisha), 知事 (ちじ, chiji), 統治者 (とうちしゃ, tōchisha) Javanese: ratu (jv) Kikuyu: mũthamaki class 1 Korean: 통치자(統治者) (ko) (tongchija) Kyrgyz: бий (ky) (biy) Latgalian: vaļdinīks m Latin: tyrannus m Latvian: valdnieks m Lithuanian: valdovas m Macedonian: владетел m (vladetel) Malay: penguasa (ms), pemerintah Middle English: reuler, senyour Mongolian: Cyrillic: захирагч (mn) (zaxiragč) Nahuatl: tecutli Norwegian: Bokmål: hersker (no) m, makthaver (no) m Nynorsk: herskar m, makthavar m Old Prussian: rikīs m Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎ (qǧn¹ /qaɣan/) Persian: حاکم‎ (fa) (hâkem), حکمران‎ (fa) (hokmrân) Polish: władca (pl) m, włodarz m Portuguese: governante (pt) m Romanian: guvernant (ro) m, domnitor (ro) m Russian: прави́тель (ru) m (pravítelʹ), властели́н (ru) m (vlastelín), власти́тель (ru) m (vlastítelʹ), госуда́рь (ru) m (gosudárʹ) Sanskrit: अधिप (sa) m (adhipa) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вла̀да̄р m, во̏ђа f Roman: vlàdār (sh) m, vȍđa (sh) f Slovak: vládca m Spanish: gobernante (es) Swedish: härskare (sv) c, ledare (sv) c Tabaru: koana Tagalog: naghahari Tajik: ҳоким (hokim) Telugu: అధికారి (te) (adhikāri) Ternate: kolano Tocharian B: kamartīke Turkish: hükümdar (tr) Ukrainian: прави́тель (uk) m (pravýtelʹ)

a female person who rules or governs

Afrikaans: heersers Belarusian: праві́целька f (pravícjelʹka) Bulgarian: владе́телка f (vladételka) Czech: vládkyně f Danish: herskerinde c Dutch: heerseres (nl) f Hungarian: uralkodónő Latgalian: vaļdineica f Latvian: valdniece f Lithuanian: valdovė f Macedonian: владетелка f (vladetelka) Polish: władczyni (pl) f Russian: прави́тельница (ru) f (pravítelʹnica), власти́тельница (ru) f (vlastítelʹnica), госуда́рыня (ru) f (gosudárynja) Slovak: vládkyňa f Swedish: härskarinna (sv) c Ukrainian: прави́телька (uk) f (pravýtelʹka)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: (please verify) sundimtar (sq) m Estonian: (please verify) joonlaud Indonesian: (please verify) pembaris Lao: (please verify) ໄມ້ບັນທັດ (lo) (mai ban that) Malay: (please verify) penguasa (ms) Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) upravljač (sh) Tagalog: (please verify) reglador, (please verify) dinasta Tamil: (please verify) ஆட்சியாளர் (āṭciyāḷar) Ukrainian: (please verify) ліні́йка f (liníjka) Uzbek: (please verify) hokim (uz), (please verify) idora qiluvchi, (please verify) chizgʻich (uz) Vietnamese: (please verify) cây thước, (please verify) cái thước kẻ Yiddish: (please verify) ווירע‎ f (vire)

Verb

ruler (third-person singular simple present rulers, present participle rulering, simple past and past participle rulered)

1. (transitive) To beat with a ruler (as a traditional school punishment).

Further reading

• ruler in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• ruler in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• ruler on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• lurer

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Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English ruler, from Middle English reuler.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ru‧ler
• IPA^(key): /ˈɾuleɾ/, [ˈɾ̪u.l̪ɪɾ̪]

Noun

ruler

1. ruler (tool)

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Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English ruler.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ru‧ler
• IPA^(key): /ˈɾuleɾ/, [ˈɾu.leɾ]

Noun

rúler (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜓᜎᜒᜇ᜔)

1. ruler (tool)

   Synonyms: reglador, panlinya