Meanings
plural realms · alternative realme
- archaicrhetoriclawA territory or state, as ruled by an absolute authority, especially by a king; a kingdom.First known use ca. 1300
1913, Leslie Alexander Toke, Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Dunstan", Then seeing his life was threatened he fled the realm and crossed over to Flanders, […]
1 more example
And, of this island realm, he and his companion were the undisputed sovereigns.
1874, Horatio Alger, “Chapter XXXI”, in Brave and Bold- archaicrhetoricroleplaying gamesfantasyAn otherworldly dimension or domain — magical, ethereal, or otherwise.
- archaicobsoleterhetoriclawThe spiritual state of which God is the head; the Kingdom of Heaven.
- alsofigurativelyA sphere of knowledge or of influence; a domain.First known use after 1400
the realm of physics
5 more examples
the realm of corporate governance
Why should we despise anything in the realm of Buddha?
1907, Tada Kanai, “The World and How to Pass Through It”, in Arthur Lloyd, transl., Seven Buddhist SermonsOne thing more which the scientific man does is to accord primacy to that realm of truth which is primary in importance.
1922, Judson Eber Conant, “Truth Must be Classified Scientifically”, in The Church The Schools and EvolutionAt home in Moscow, Mikhail Sergeyevitch Gorbachev, who had launched a campaign to rejuvenate the Soviet realm […]
2006 November 22, Christian Neef, “Diary of a Collapsing Superpower”, in Spiegel MagazineIn order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra-wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nouna knowledge domain that you are interested in or are communicating about
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchreaume
- Middle Englishrewme
- Englishrealm
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.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَيِّز, مَمْلَكَة
- حَيِّز (ḥayyiz)sphere of influence
- مَمْلَكَة (mamlaka)territory or state
- مُلْك (mulk)territory or state
Basque alor, arlo
- alorsphere of influence
- arlosphere of influence
- erresumaterritory or state
- erreinuterritory or state
Bulgarian сфе́ра на де́йствие, о́бласт
- сфе́ра на де́йствие (sféra na déjstvie)sphere of influence
- о́бласт (óblast)sphere of influence
- ца́рство (cárstvo)territory or state
- кра́лство (králstvo)territory or state
Catalan domini
- dominidomain of an abstraction
Chinese Mandarin 域, 領域 /领域
- 域 (yù)sphere of influence
- 領域 /领域 (lǐngyù)domain of an abstraction
- 王國 /王国 (wángguó)territory or state
- 領域 /领域 (lǐngyù)territory or state
Czech říše
- říšeterritory or state
Danish sfære, rige
- sfæresphere of influence
- rigeterritory or state
Dutch sfeer, rijk
- sfeersphere of influence
- rijksphere of influence
- wereldsphere of influence
- domeindomain of an abstraction
- rijkdomain of an abstraction
- rijkterritory or state
- koninkrijkterritory or state
Esperanto regno
- regnoterritory or state
Finnish vaikutuspiiri, piiri
- vaikutuspiirisphere of influence
- piiridomain of an abstraction
- aluedomain of an abstraction
- valtakuntaterritory or state
- kuningaskuntaterritory or state
French domaine, royaume
- domainedomain of an abstraction
- royaumeterritory or state
German Reich, Königreich
- Reichterritory or state
- Königreichterritory or state
- Kaiserreichterritory or state
Greek σφαίρα, βασίλειο
- σφαίρα (sfaíra)sphere of influence
- βασίλειο (vasíleio)territory or state
- κράτος (krátos)territory or state
Hebrew תְּחוּם, מַמְלָכָה
- תְּחוּם (tkhum)sphere of influence
- מַמְלָכָה (mamlakhá)territory or state
Hungarian birodalom
- birodalomterritory or state
Icelandic ríki, veldi
- ríkisphere of influence
- veldisphere of influence
- ríkiterritory or state
Indonesian alam, ranah
- alamsphere of influence
- ranahdomain of an abstraction
Irish flaitheas
- flaitheasterritory or state
Italian reame, regno
- reamesphere of influence
- regnosphere of influence
- dominiosphere of influence
- sferasphere of influence
- ambitosphere of influence
- dominiodomain of an abstraction
- reameterritory or state
- regnoterritory or state
Japanese 王国, 領域
- 王国 (ōkoku)territory or state
- 領域 (ryōiki)territory or state
Korean 왕국, 영역
- 왕국 (wangguk)territory or state
- 영역 (yeong'yeok)territory or state
- 령역 (ryeong'yeok)territory or state
Latin rēgnum
- rēgnumterritory or state
Malay alam
- alamsphere of influence
Māori rangatiratanga
- rangatiratangaterritory or state
Norwegian Bokmål sfære, rike
- sfæresphere of influence
- rikesphere of influence
- riketerritory or state
Polish sfera, domena
- sferasphere of influence
- domenadomain of an abstraction
- królestwoterritory or state
Portuguese domínio, campo
- domíniosphere of influence
- camposphere of influence
- reinosphere of influence
- âmbitosphere of influence
- reinoterritory or state
Russian о́бласть, сфе́ра
- о́бласть (óblastʹ)sphere of influence
- сфе́ра (sféra)sphere of influence
- доме́н (domén)domain of an abstraction
- короле́вство (korolévstvo)territory or state
- ца́рство (cárstvo)territory or state
Slovak ríša
- ríšaterritory or state
Spanish esfera, reino
- esferasphere of influence
- reinoterritory or state
- realme (disused)territory or state
Swedish sfär, rike
- sfärsphere of influence
- riketerritory or state
Ukrainian о́бласть, сфе́ра
- о́бласть (óblastʹ)sphere of influence
- сфе́ра (sféra)sphere of influence
- королі́вство (korolívstvo)territory or state
- ца́рство (cárstvo)territory or state
Urdu مُلْک
- مُلْک (mulk)territory or state
Welsh cyfoeth, cyfoethau
- cyfoethsphere of influence
- cyfoethausphere of influence
- cyfoethterritory or state
- cyfoethauterritory or state
Yiddish מלכות
- מלכות (malkhes)territory or state
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with realm
Anagrams
Cite this entry
realm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/realm
“realm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/realm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “realm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/realm.
Source: realm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.