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realm

Pronunciation: /ɹɛlm/

The English word “realm” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A territory or state, as ruled by an absolute authority, especially by a king; a kingdom.
  2. An otherworldly dimension or domain — magical, ethereal, or otherwise.
  3. The spiritual state of which God is the head; the Kingdom of Heaven.
  4. A sphere of knowledge or of influence; a domain.
  5. A primary zoogeographical division of the earth's surface.
  6. A taxonomic rank in the phylogeny of viruses, higher than kingdoms.
  7. A region or zone forming part of a cosmological system.
  8. A grouping of equally trusted computers managed together on a network.

Etymology

From Middle English rewme, realme, reaume, from Old French reaume, realme, reialme (“kingdom”), of unclear origins. A postulated *rēgālimen (“domain, kingdom”), Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cross of regimen with rēgālis is usually cited. The modern spelling predominates from around 1600. The modern pronunciation with /l/ is either a spelling pronunciation or influenced by the etymology.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.