rule
n. countablen. an official instruction that tells you what you must or must not do. You follow these in games, at school, or in a country to keep things fair and safe.
n. a prescribed guide for conduct or action, often established by an authority or through mutual agreement. It serves to regulate behavior within a specific system, such as a game, a legal framework, or a social group.
You must follow the rules of the game.
The school has a strict rule against using mobile phones during lessons to ensure students stay focused.
While the written rules provide a clear framework for governance, the unwritten social norms often exert a more significant influence on the daily interactions of the community.
From Middle English reule, rewle, rule, borrowed from Old French riule, reule, from Latin regula (“straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern”), from regō (“to keep straight, direct, govern, rule”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root h₃reǵ-; see regent. Doublet of rail, regal, regula, and rigol.
From Middle English reulen, rulen, borrowed from Old French riuler, from Latin regulāre (“to regulate, rule”), from regula (“a rule”); see regular and regulate.
Related to revel.
Commonly used with the verbs 'follow', 'obey', 'break', or 'bend'.
He doesn't follow the law of the game.He doesn't follow the rules of the game.Learners often use 'law' for specific activities like sports or board games, but 'rule' is the correct term for these contexts.