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reign |rān| verb [ intrans. ] hold royal office; rule as king or queen : Queen Elizabeth reigns over the UK | figurative the Nashville sound will reign supreme once again. • [usu. as adj. ] ( reigning) (of an athlete or team) currently hold a particular title : the reigning world champion. • (of a quality or condition) prevail; predominate : confusion reigned. noun the period during which a sovereign rules : the original chapel was built in the reign of Charles I. • the period of prevalence or domination of a specified thing : these historic seconds inaugurated the reign of negative political advertising. • the period during which an athlete or team holds a specified title. ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French reignier ‘to reign,’ reigne ‘kingdom,’ from Latin regnum, related to rex, reg- ‘king.’ USAGE The correct idiomatic phrase is free rein, not free reign; see usage at rein .