Proto-Indo-European Roots

Proto-Indo-European Roots

Root/Stem:	*reg'-

Meanings:	to rule, to lead straight, to put right

Cognates:	Greek *réks* (a king) - a Middle Greek word borrowed from Latin in the Medieval epoch
	Latin *regere* (to rule), *rex* (a king, a leader), *rectus* (right, correct), Oscan *regaturei'* (dat.sg., a leader, a guider)
	Common Celtic réks, gen. *régos* (a king) > Old Irish rí (a king), Scottish Gaelic *righ; indirect Irish -righ* (right) Gaulish *-rix* (a king), pl. *-riges* - known from personal names including *Vircingetorix; Welsh rhi* (a king) - here r is lenited, Breton *reizh* (right, correct), Cornish *ruy* (a king), Middle Breton *roe*
	Common Germanic reik-, rik- (to rule) > Gothic *reiks* (a leader), Old English *ríce* (a kingdom), also -*ríc* (a king), *ríce* (rich, powerful); Old High German *riche* (kingdom), Old Norse & Old Swedish *ríki* (kingdom), Old Frankish *ri'ke; indirect: Old English riht* (correct), Gothic *raihts, Old High German recht, Old Swedish reht, Old Frankish riuht, Old Norse rettr; Modern: Swedish ratt, Danish ret, Icelandic rettr, German recht, Faroese raettur, Afrikaans reg, Dutch richten* (to straighten out)
	Avestan *raé* (wealth, wealthy), *raya* (rich person) - a supposed word; *rástar* (a leader) Persian *rahst* (right, correct)
	Sanskrit *ráj-, rat.* (a king, a leader)
	Thracian *rhesus, resos, rézos* (a personal name meaning "king")
	Slavic: some linguists suggested an Old Russian deity *Sva-rog, which is quite unnatural, for Indo-European -g'-* must have caused Slavic *-z-; more reliable is Old Russian rez* (profit) derived from the meaning "wealthy" of the same stem.

Notes:	The first meaning of the word that is so spread in modern tongues, was "to lead right", "a leader" (Latin: *Qualis rex, talix grex). That's why the meaning "right, correct" is much more ancient than the other one "wealthy, rich" which was born from the wealth of kings and leaders. The words like English "direct" are also derivatives, coming from Latin dis-rego* to Spanish *derecho, Potuguese direito, Rumanian drept, Ladin dret, Catalan dret, French directe*