The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃reǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃rḗǵs
- Proto-Italic*rēks
- Latinrēx
- Latin*rēgnus
- Latinrēgnum
- Latinrēgnō, rēgnāre
- Old Frenchreignier
- Anglo-Normanregner
- Middle Englishregnen
- English todayreign
Inherited from Middle English regnen, from Old French reignier, from the Latin verb rēgnō, and the noun rēgnum. Doublet of regnum. Displaced native Old English rīċe (“a reign”) and ricsian (“to reign”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.