▪ I. ruler, n.1
(ˈruːlə(r))
Forms: 4–6 rewler, 5–6 rewlar; 4 reulor, 4–6 reuler, 5 reulure, 6 reular; 6 rueler, -ar; 4–5 rulere, 5–7 rular, 5– ruler.
[f. rule v. + -er1.]
1. One who, or that which, exercises rule, command, or authority, esp. of a supreme or sovereign kind: a. Const. of, over, † upon.
| c 1375 Cursor M. 4643 (Fairf.), He sal be rewler of al my lande. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xviii. 21 Ordeyne of hem rewlers vpon thowsaundes, and rewlers vpon hundrethes, and rewlers vpon fifti. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 995 The Lord of Macrocosme and rewler of that fee. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xxi. i. 839 As syr Mordred was rular of alle englond. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 224 b, Labourynge to..withdrawe y⊇ people..from the dominyon of kynges, lordes, and rulers of the temporalty. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 11 We be Lords and Rulers ouer Roan. 1611 Bible Gen. xli. 43 He made him ruler ouer all the land of Egypt. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad ii. 49 Stern ruler of the sky! Whose sport is man, and human misery. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 120 Winter, ruler of th' inverted year. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 233 The Roman emperor..was in future to be the sole protector and ruler of the country. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 22 Men of old, who affirmed mind to be the ruler of the universe. |
b. Without const.
| 1526 Tindale Acts vii. 27 Who made the a ruelar and a iudge amonge vs? 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 105 By heauen thou shalt rule no more O're him, whom heauen created for thy Ruler. 1641 Thorndike Govt. Churches 92 Rulers or Helps in the government, Elders of the people. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xi. (1848) 231 Whereas..other Artificers work upon inanimate Materials, a Ruler must manage free Agents. 1717 Pope Iliad x. 473 Other Rulers those proud Steeds demand. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 104 Compar'd with this sublimest life below, Ye kings and rulers, what have courts to show? 1821 Byron Sardan. ii. i, 'Tis thy natal ruler—thy birth planet. 1878 Gladstone Primer Homer 113 The absurd idea that the nation exists for the rulers, and not the rulers for the nation. |
2. a. One who has control, management, or headship within some limited sphere. Now Obs. or arch. except with suggestion of sense 1.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 242 Lordis..maken summe prestis stiwardis of here housholde..& summe conseileris & reuleris of here worldly plees. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 259 Þe popes legat þat was rulere of pilgremages in þe Holy Lond. 1466 in Archaeologia (1887) L. i. 50 We beyng Rewlers and gouernerse of the parissch of seynt Stephan in Colmanstrete. 1480 Bury Wills (Camden) 65 The maister, precedent, or othir reuler of the colage of preestes. 1511–2 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 3 §1 The father, governours and rulers of such as be of tendre age. 1526 Tindale Mark v. 22 There cam vnto hym won of the rulers of the sinagogge. 1555 Act 2 & 3 Phil. & Mary c. 7 §2 The said Ruler or Keeper of the said Fair or Market. 1766 Ann. Reg. 134 The Rulers of the Watermens company attended. 1864 Reader 21 May 652/1 The rulers of the British Museum are an irresponsible corporation. |
| transf. 1562 Turner Baths 13 Savonarola..telleth that the chefe ruler is alume. |
b. ruler of the choir, a cantor. Now only arch.
| 1485 Rutland Papers (Camden) 21 Thoffice of the masse..shalbe begon of the rulers of the quere with the Kyrie [etc.]. a 1538 Acc. St. Michael Cornhill (1871) 208 One discrete preste shalbe chosen by the Parson..to be a Ruler or Deane of the quyre in executing and seying the dyvyne servyce. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers IV. xii. 136 The rulers of the choir, or..chanters, were arrayed in silken copes. 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 146 Let this be sung by Rulers, Clerk, Choir, and people together. |
3. † a. = rule n. 17. Obs. b. A straight-edged strip or cylinder, usually of wood or ivory, used for guiding a pen, pencil, or marking-instrument in forming straight lines upon paper, etc.
parallel ruler(s): see parallel a. 1 b.
| a 1400 in Halliwell Rara Mathem. (1841) 68 Biholde þe ende of þat oþer side þe ryver by a reulure vpon þe table... And drawe a lyne by þe reulure on þe table. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 682 Hoc regulare, a rewler. 1530 Palsgr. 264/2 Ruler for a carpentar, niueau. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. 24 More easyly..may you fynde and make any suche line with a true ruler, layinge the edge of the ruler to the edge of the circle. 1634 Wither Embl. 164 A Ruler or a square Or such like instruments, as usefull are In forming other things. 1656 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 142 Divide your ruler first into Inches, and then each inch into 10 or 100 parts. 1709 Berkeley Ess. Vision §61 Take an inch marked upon a ruler. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Arts II. 17 Their use is first to measure (by help of a scale of equal parts upon the edge of your ruler) your proportions. 1834–6 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 663/1 Hammering out a bar of the best iron into the form of a flat ruler. 1893 Vizetelly Glances Back I. ii. 33 Pounding away at their knuckles with an ebony ruler. |
c. (See quots.)
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Glass, To form the Thickness of a Glass, there are two iron Rulers, or Rims, placed around the edge of the Table. 1866 Brande & Cox Dict. Sci. II. 737/2 The holes of each row [of organ pipes] are opened and shut by a register or ruler pierced with holes equal in number to the keys. |
4. A workman who rules straight lines in account-books, etc. Also in comb. paper-ruler.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Paper-ruler, a workman who lines paper by hand. |
† 5. (See quot.) Obs.
| 1820 F. MacDonogh Hermit in London IV. 122 Another class of men is what we call ‘rulers’. These are men who bear a dollar's worth of liberty in their pocket, namely a four and sixpenny day rule, under pretence of settling with their creditors, or of attending to their affairs. |
6. Comb. (sense 3 b) ruler-straight adj.; (sense 1) ruler-cult Antiq., worship offered to a hereditary ruler; also transf.
| 1928 A. D. Nock in Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. XLVIII. (title) Notes on ruler-cult. 1951 M. P. Nilsson Cults, Myths, Oracles, & Politics in Anc. Greece iii. 108 The ruler cult was from the age of the Epigoni the state religion of the Hellenistic monarchies in the East. 1958 Times 15 Nov. 9/7 Revolutionary and critical times may produce the phenomenon we call ruler-cult. 1960 Lebende Sprachen V. 35/3 Ruler-straight seam, schnurgerade Naht. 1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 14 The horizon meets the sky in a ruler-straight line. |
▪ II. † ˈruler, a. and n.2 Obs.
In 4 ruleer, reuleer, reweler.
[ad. OF. reuler, riuler, etc.:—L. rēgulāris regular.]
1. = regular A. 1 and D. 2.
| a 1380 St. Bernard 466 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 49 A chanoun ruleer to him com. 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 424/1 Abbotes and Priours, and all other men of holy Chirche Seculers and Rewelers. |
2. = canonical a. 2.
| a 1390 Wycliffite Bible, Prol. Prov., Redeth hem..the chirche, but among the reuleer scripturis resceyueth not. |
▪ III. ˈruler, v. colloq.
[f. ruler n.1 3 b.]
trans. To beat or rap with a ruler.
| 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. vii, I think he was caned every day that half-year, except on holiday Monday, when he was only ruler'd on both hands. 1894 N. Brooks Tales Maine Coast 22 Girls were not ‘rulered’ in that school. |