regulation
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
An official rule made by an authority that must be followed
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehgyuhlayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɛɡjəˈleɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
A law or administrative rule, issued by an organization, used to guide or prescribe the conduct of members of that organization.
lawoften in the plural
A type of law made by the executive branch of a government, usually as authorized by a statute made by the legislative branch giving the executive the authority to do so.
An authoritative rule
uncountable
The act of regulating or the condition of being regulated.
countablein the singular
A numbered provision within such kind of legislation.
adjective
In conformity with applicable rules and regulations.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A law or administrative rule, issued by an organization, used to guide or prescribe the conduct of members of that organization.
Used this way, regulation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use regulation
- “Fiscal regulations are in the hands of politicians.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Law
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The normal prescribed duration of a game.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.