Basic Details
Word: Regent
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person who rules a country in place of a king or queen who is too young, too ill or away.
Synonyms: acting ruler, ruler
Word origin: From Latin regere, to rule.
How to Spell Regent
Syllables: re - gent
Tricky part: The g is soft, like a j, and the ending is -ent, not -ant. Students write rejent or regant.
Watch out for: regant, rejent, reigent
Memory tip: Hidden in regent is gent, short for gentleman, and its g is soft as in gentle: re + gent.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Because the prince was only six, his uncle ruled as regent.
Example 2: In the story, the greedy regent wanted to keep the throne for himself.
Example 3: Regent's Park in London is named after the Prince Regent.
Fun Fact
From 1811 to 1820 the future King George IV ruled Britain as Prince Regent because his father, George III, was too ill, and that decade is called the Regency.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. soverign 2. dinasty 3. monarck 4. regent
a) a supreme ruler of a country
b) a person who rules in place of a king or queen
c) a king or queen
d) a line of rulers from the same family
Show answer
b) a person who rules in place of a king or queen. Sovereign needs an e before ign, monarch ends in ch and dynasty starts dy, so regent is the only correct spelling.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
r_g_nt
a) i, e
b) a, e
c) e, e
d) e, a
Show answer
c) e, e. Both vowels are e: re, then gent.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
While the queen was abroad, her brother governed the country as tegner.
a) regret
b) reign
c) urgent
d) regent
Show answer
d) regent. Regret has two r's, urgent a u and reign an i; these six letters make regent.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A regent usually rules because the king or queen is ____.
a) too young or too ill to rule
b) the richest in the land
c) a skilled soldier
d) very popular with the people
Show answer
a) too young or too ill to rule
2. Which word comes from the same Latin root as regent, regere, to rule?
a) rely
b) regret
c) refer
d) regime
Show answer
d) regime
