interregnum

See also: Interregnum

English

WOTD – 30 January 2026

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin interrēgnum, from inter- (prefix meaning ‘between’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér (“between”)) + rēgnum (“reign; royal power”)[1] (nominalized from the neuter of *rēgnus, from rēx (“king; ruler”, oblique stem rēg-) + -nus (suffix forming adjectives), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)).

The plural form interregna is a learned borrowing from Latin interrēgna.

Pronunciation

Noun

interregnum (plural interregnums or interregna)

  1. A period of time between the end of one monarch's reign and the accession of their successor.
    The Sasanian Interregnum of 628–632
    • 1897, Edward Bellamy, Equality, Chapter 15:
      It was not till the kings had been shorn of power and the interregnum of sham democracy had set in, leaving no virile force in the state or the world to resist the money power, that the opportunity for a world-wide plutocratic despotism arrived.
  2. (by extension)
    1. (figurative) A break in continuity; a gap, an intermission.
      Synonyms: hiatus, interval, moratorium, pause, recess; see also Thesaurus:pause
      • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 224:
        Is it not Pelham who wonders what becomes of servants when they are not wanted;—whether, like the tones of an instrument, they exist but when called for? About servants we will not decide; but that some such interregnum certainly occurs in female existence on rising from table, no one can doubt who ever noted the sound of the dining and the silence of the drawing-room.
      • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, “chapter XIV”, in The Partisan, Harper, page 179:
        This was in that strange pause of the storm which is its most remarkable feature in the South—that singular interregnum of the winds, when, after giving repeated notice of their most terrific action, they seem almost to forget their purpose, and for a few moments appear to slumber in their inactivity.
      • 1946 May and June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 146:
        Between the end of the Fowler régime in 1931 and the advent of Stanier in 1932, there was a short interregnum during which Ernest Lemon was in charge, with Ernest Beames as his principal aide-de-camp.
      • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 17:
        All I know is that you could, if you wanted to, find the answers to all sorts of difficult questions buried in that terrible war-torn interregnum between the first pubic hair and the first soiled Durex.
      • 2025 January 30, Linda Feldmann, “Understanding the Trump chaos: It’s about wielding executive power”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎[1], Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 September 2026:
        Another element leading to the quick-out-of-the-gate second Trump term took place during the four-year interregnum of President Joe Biden.
    2. (Christianity) A period of time between when a minister or pastor leaves a church and when a new one is installed.
    3. (politics) A period of time between the end of one political leader's term and the start of the term of their successor; a period of time during which normal executive leadership is interrupted or suspended, and a polity is either left without leadership or has only a temporary one.
  3. (obsolete) A temporary exercise of authority or rule during a period of time when there is no monarch or political leader.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ “interregnum, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025; “interregnum, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin interrēgnum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɪn.təˈrɛɣ.nʏm/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

interregnum n (plural interregna or interregnums, diminutive interregnumpje n)

  1. interregnum

Descendants

  • →? Indonesian: interegnum (or directly from the Latin)

Latin

Etymology

From inter- (“between”) +‎ rēgnum (“reign”), corresponding to interrēx.

Pronunciation

Noun

interrēgnum n (genitive interrēgnī); second declension

  1. (historical, under the kings) the time between the death of one Roman king and the election of another
    • 54 BCE – 51 BCE, Cicero, De re publica 2.12.23:
      […] illi principes novam et inauditam ceteris gentibus interregni ineundi rationem excogitaverunt, ut quoad certus rex declaratus esset, nec sine rege civitas nec diuturno rege esset uno, nec committeretur ut quisquam inveterata potestate aut ad deponendum imperium tardior esset aut ad optinendum munitior.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 1.17.5–6:
      Decem imperitabant: unus cum insignibus imperii et lictoribus erat; quinque dierum spatio finiebatur imperium ac per omnes in orbem ibat; annuumque intervallum regni fuit. Id ab re, quod nunc quoque tenet nomen, interregnum appellatum.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (transfered sense, under the republic) the time between the departure or untimely death of the consuls during which one or several interrēges were elected one at a time to choose new ones, or, in dire times, elect military tribunes with consulary authority until consuls could safely be elected; the office of an interrēx
    Meronym: interrēx
    Coordinate terms: dictātūra, cōnsulātus
    • 68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 9.9.3:
      Nam permagni eius interest rem ad interregnum non venire. id adsequitur, si per praetorem consules creantur. Nos autem in libris habemus non modo consules a praetore sed ne praetores quidem creari ius esse idque factum esse numquam; […]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 7.9.2:
      Cum sit necesse aut haberi Caesaris rationem illo exercitum vel per senatum vel per tribunos pl. obtinente aut persuaderi Caesari, ut tradat provinciam atque exercitum et ita consul fiat, aut, si id ei non persuadeatur, haberi comitia sine illius ratione illo patiente atque obtinente provinciam, aut, si per tribunos pl. non patiatur et tamen quiescat, rem adduci ad interregnum, […]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 3.8.2:
      […] versisque animis iam ad publicam curam, cum aliquot interregna exissent, P. Valerius Publicola tertio die quam interregnum inierat consules creat L. Lucretium Tricipitinum et T. Veturium Geminum, […]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 5.31.7–9:
      Consulibusque morbo implicitis placuit per interregnum renovari auspicia. Itaque cum ex senatus consulto consules magistratu se abdicassent, interrex creatur M. Furius Camillus, qui P. Cornelium Scipionem, is deinde L. Valerium Potitum interregem prodidit. Ab eo creati sex tribuni militum consulari potestate ut, etiam si cui eorum incommoda valetudo fuisset, copia magistratuum rei publicae esset.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  3. (post-classical) an interregnum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

singular plural
nominative interrēgnum interrēgna
genitive interrēgnī interrēgnōrum
dative interrēgnō interrēgnīs
accusative interrēgnum interrēgna
ablative interrēgnō interrēgnīs
vocative interrēgnum interrēgna

Descendants

References

  • “interregnum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “interregnum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "interregnum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[4], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • things seem tending towards an interregnum: res fluit ad interregnum
    • an interregnum ensues: res ad interregnum venit or adducitur
  • “interregnum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

interregnum n (definite singular interregnumet or interregnet, indefinite plural interregna or interregner, definite plural interregnaene or interregna or interregnene)

  1. an interregnum

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

interregnum n (definite singular interregnumet, indefinite plural interregnum, definite plural interregnuma)

  1. an interregnum

Inflection

Historical inflection of interregnum
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
1920 interregnum interregnumet interregnum interregnuma, interregnumi
1938 interregnuma [interregnumi]
1981-19831 interregnet, interregnumet interregna, interregnum interregna, interregnaa [interregnai], interregnuma [interregnumi]
2012 (current) interregnum interregnumet interregnum interregnuma
  • Forms in italics are currently considered non-standard.
  • Forms in [brackets] were official, but considered second-tier. 1Decisions on the definite singular, indefinite plural and definite plural forms, were made in 1983, 1981 and 1982 respectively.

Polish

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Latin interrēgnum.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /in.tɛrˈrɛɡ.num/
    • Rhymes: -ɛɡnum
    • Syllabification: in‧ter‧reg‧num

    Noun

    interregnum n

    1. interregnum (period of time between the end of a sovereign's reign and the accession of another sovereign)
      Synonyms: bezkrólewie, międzykrólewie
    2. interregnum (period of time during which normal executive leadership is suspended or interrupted)
      Synonym: bezkrólewie
    3. (Ancient Rome, historical) interregnum (period of time between consuls' terms of office)

    Declension

    Declension of interregnum
    singular plural
    nominative interregnum interregna
    genitive interregnum interregnów
    dative interregnum interregnom
    accusative interregnum interregna
    instrumental interregnum interregnami
    locative interregnum interregnach
    vocative interregnum interregna

    Further reading

    • “interregnum”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[5] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • “interregnum”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[6] (in Polish)
    • interregnum in PWN's encyclopedia
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