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rule

/ɹul/
nounverb

RULE meaning: a regulation or guideline, or the act of governing. The four-letter word scores 4 points in Scrabble.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Noun 4 meanings

  1. A regulation, law, guideline.

    “All participants must adhere to the rules.”

  2. A regulating principle.

  3. The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.

  4. A normal condition or state of affairs.

    “My rule is to rise at six o'clock.”

Verb 4 meanings

  1. To regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over.

  2. To decide judicially.

  3. To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice.

  4. To mark (paper or the like) with rules (lines).

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

From Middle English reule, rewle, rule, borrowed from Old French riule, reule, from Latin regula (“straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern”), from regō (“to keep straight, direct, govern, rule”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent.

Similar and opposite words

Similar
sanctionhold

RULE works as a noun for a law or guideline and as a verb for governing or deciding. It ranks 1,195th in English frequency, with a count of 34,517. Its single anagram, LURE, and a crowd of neighbours make it a flexible little tile pattern.

RULE in brief

  • Letters: E, L, R and U, each worth 1 point.
  • Base Scrabble value: 4 points.
  • One anagram: LURE.
  • 16 one-letter neighbours, among them ROLE, RUDE, MULE, RUSE and RUNE.
  • Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE all accept it.

What does RULE mean beyond the obvious?

The first sense is a regulation, as in the rule of the game. A second is a guiding principle, and a third is authority or government, which is why you hear of a monarch's rule. A fourth means a normal state of affairs: the exception that proves the rule.

Game lists ignore the sense and care about spelling. Still, RULE is a word nobody challenges, which makes it a dependable filler for a tight corner of the board when you need to burn an awkward tile like the U.

How do the 16 neighbours help you play?

Swap the first letter for MULE or YULE, or the second for RILE or ROLE. Swap the third and RUDE, RUBE, RUNE and RUSE all appear. Those four share the RU- start, so a single tile in the third column opens four routes at once.

LURE is the lone anagram. It scores the same 4, and the two words share every tile. The choice is purely about placement: LURE ends in E, but so does RULE, so even the final letter cannot separate them.

Quick check

Note

ROLE and RULE differ only in the vowel, so you can turn one into the other with a single tile swap whenever the board gives you an O or a U.

Rhymes with rule

All rhymes
  • SCHEDULE14
  • MODULE9
  • CAPSULE11
  • MOLECULE12
  • MULE6
  • RIDICULE11
  • MINUSCULE13
  • RESCHEDULE16
  • OVERRULE11
  • VESTIBULE14
  • YULE7
  • MINISCULE13

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest
  • ROLE4
  • RUDE5
  • MULE6
  • RUSE4
  • RUNE4
  • YULE7
  • RUBE6
  • RILE4
  • TULE4
  • PULE6
  • RALE4
  • DULE5
  • GULE5
  • HULE7
  • RULY7
  • RUME6

Questions people ask

Is rule a valid Scrabble word?
Yes. RULE is accepted in Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE, and it scores 4 points because each of its four letters is worth 1. It has one anagram, LURE, which scores the same.
What is the anagram of rule?
The only anagram of RULE is LURE, a word meaning to tempt or an object used as bait. Both words use the letters E, L, R and U and score 4 points, so the choice depends on the board.
How many words are one letter away from rule?
Sixteen words differ from RULE by a single letter, including ROLE, RUDE, MULE, RUSE, RUNE and RILE. That is a large set for a four-letter word, which is why RULE hooks onto so many boards.

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