All Topics  
Realm

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Realm
 
 
  Topics Realm Topic Home

A realm is a dominion
Dominion

A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomy polity that were nominally under United Kingdom sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations, from the late 19th century....
 of a monarch or other sovereign ruler.

The Old French word reaume, modern French royaume, was the word first adopted in English; the fixed modern spelling does not appear until the beginning of the 17th century. The word supposedly derives from medieval Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 regalimen, from regalis, of or belonging to a rex, (king).

"Realm" is particularly used for those states whose name includes the word kingdom (for example, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
), to avoid clumsy repetition of the word in a sentence (for example, "The Queen's realm, the United Kingdom...").






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Realm'
Start a new discussion about 'Realm'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A realm is a dominion
Dominion

A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomy polity that were nominally under United Kingdom sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations, from the late 19th century....
 of a monarch or other sovereign ruler.

The Old French word reaume, modern French royaume, was the word first adopted in English; the fixed modern spelling does not appear until the beginning of the 17th century. The word supposedly derives from medieval Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 regalimen, from regalis, of or belonging to a rex, (king).

"Realm" is particularly used for those states whose name includes the word kingdom (for example, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
), to avoid clumsy repetition of the word in a sentence (for example, "The Queen's realm, the United Kingdom..."). It is also useful to describe those countries whose monarchs are called something other than "king" or "queen"; for example, the Grand Duchy
Grand duchy

A grand duchy is a territory whose head of state is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess.The only grand duchy in existence today is Luxembourg. It has been a grand duchy since 1815 when the Netherlands became an independent kingdom and Luxembourg was handed over to the King of the Netherlands, William I of the Netherlands....
 of Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
 is a realm but not a kingdom since its monarch holds the title Grand Duke rather than King.

"Realm" is also frequently used to refer to territories that are "under" a monarch, yet are not a physical part of his or her "kingdom" (e.g- the Realm of Sweden
Realm of Sweden

The Realm of Sweden or Svenska v?ldet is a term that historically was used to comprise all the territories under the control of the Sweden monarchs....
, or to Holstein
Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider River. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany.Holstein once existed as the County of Holstein , the later Duchy of Holstein , and was the northernmost territory of the Holy Roman Empire....
, which until the Second War of Schleswig
Second War of Schleswig

The Second Schleswig War was the second war due to the Schleswig-Holstein Question. The war began on February 1 1864 when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig....
 was an important part of the Danish King's realm stretching to the border of Hamburg
Hamburg

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
, although not a part of the Danish Kingdom). Similarly, the Cook Islands
Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in Associated state with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres , but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone covers 1.8 million square kilometres of ocean....
, Niue
Niue

Niue is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia". Natives of the island call it "the Rock"....
, and Tokelau
Tokelau

Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand that consists of three tropical coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean. The United Nations United Nations General Assembly designated Tokelau a United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories....
 are considered parts of the Realm of New Zealand
Realm of New Zealand

The term "Realm of New Zealand" is used to refer to the entire area in which the Monarchy in New Zealand is head of state. The Realm comprises the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Tokelau and New Zealand's Ross Dependency in Antarctica....
, although they are not part of New Zealand proper. Likewise, the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland....
 and Greenland
Greenland

Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
 remain parts of the Danish Realm.

Realm may commonly also be used to describe the Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch....
s which all are kingdoms in their own right and share a common monarch, though they are fully independent of each other.

Realm directly translates into reich in German, though the word reich is often used as a short form for 'kingdom' (Königreich) and especially 'empire' (Kaiserreich). The German suffix -reich is only used for realms headed by a crowned monarch (or if they used to be, e.g. Frankreich for France). Territories ruled by non-crowned rulers end in the suffix -tum (engl.: -dom), i.e. Herzogtum (dukedom), Fürstentum (principality).

See also

  • Reich
    Reich

    , is a German language loanword cognate with the English reign, region, and rich, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is "imperial, sovereign state." It is cognate with the North Germanic languages rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric....


Footnotes