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Proto-Indo-European · 26 October 2026

A word a day week

*h₃rḗǵs

approximately ‘h₃-rēǵs’ · reconstructed noun

  • ruler
  • king

Rex, regal, raj, and Celtic -rix belong to a political word family whose routes through English are anything but direct.

Then → now

The family reunion

*h₃rḗǵs → Latin rēx → Latin rēgālis → English regal; *h₃rḗǵs → Latin rēgālis → Old French roial → English royal; *h₃rḗǵs → Sanskrit rā́jan → Hindi rāj → English raj; *h₃rḗǵs → Proto-Celtic *rīxs → Gaulish -rix
Selected routes, not an exhaustive family tree. Intermediate forms are simplified for a readable first look.
  • ItalicEnglish regalroyal
  • Italic via FrenchEnglish royalof a king
  • Indo-AryanEnglish rajrule; kingdom
  • CelticGaulish -rixking, in names

Tiny sentence

*h₃rḗǵs h₁ésti.

ruler.NOM be.PRS.3SG

“There is a ruler.”

A minimal teaching reconstruction. The displayed nominative belongs to a larger, irregular paradigm.

Receipts

Sources and cautions

Political titles travel through inheritance, borrowing, and name formation. The family relation is ancient; each English arrival has its own date and route.