reign
/ɹeɪ̯n/noun, verb
reign is spelled R-E-I-G-N: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Reign, the name). People search “reign vs rein” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, reign means “The exercise of sovereign power” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of reign is reigns.
How many letters and syllables are in reign?
| Letters | 5: R-E-I-G-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is reign?
Reign appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Reign, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce reign?
- /ɹeɪ̯n/
- US /ɹeɪ̯n/
- Australia /ɹæɪ̯n/
Reign has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reign.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with reign
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: rain.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with reign?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as reign from its last stressed vowel (/eɪn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: niger.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of reign
- reigns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- reigning participle, present
- reigned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does reign mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The exercise of sovereign power.
England prospered under Elizabeth I's reign.
- 2
The period during which a monarch rules.
The reign of Victoria was a long one.
- 3
The territory or sphere over which a kingdom; empire; realm; dominion, etc. is ruled.
verb
- 1
To exercise sovereign power, to rule as a monarch.
He reigned in an autocratic manner.
- 2
nonstandardrareTo reign over (a country)
- 3
To be the winner of the most recent iteration of a competition.
- 4
To be a dominant quality of a place or situation; to prevail, predominate, rule.
Silence reigned.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Reign in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | règne , régner |
| German | Herrschaft, Regentschaft , herrschen, regieren , dominieren |
| Portuguese | reinado , reinar |
| Spanish | reinado , reinar , imperar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.