interregnum

[ in-ter-reg-nuhm ]

noun

, plural in·ter·reg·nums, in·ter·reg·na [in-ter-, reg, -n, uh].

1. an interval of time between the close of a sovereign's reign and the accession of their normal or legitimate successor.
2. any period during which a state has no ruler or only a temporary executive.
3. any period of freedom from the usual authority.
4. any pause or interruption in continuity.

interregnum

/ ˌɪntəˈrɛɡnəm /

noun

1. an interval between two reigns, governments, incumbencies, etc
2. any period in which a state lacks a ruler, government, etc
3. a period of absence of some control, authority, etc
4. a gap in a continuity

Derived Forms

• ˌinterˈregnal, adjective

Other Words From

• inter·regnal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of interregnum¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin; originally “the period between the death of the old king and the accession of the new one,” equivalent to inter- preposition and prefix + regnum “office or power of a king, kingship, kingdom”; inter-, reign

Word History and Origins

Origin of interregnum¹

C16: from Latin, from inter- + regnum reign

Example Sentences

"We can’t stop people with skills from coming in when we don't have the skills ourselves - we need to develop these skills and it takes time, so in the interregnum we need to have them come in properly, come in legally and be rewarded appropriately for the skills that they bring."

From BBC

You can't blame voters for getting a little overheated in their rhetoric during the election season and moving on with their lives in the interregnum.

From Salon

But a more trenchant quote for our times might come from Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, written about a decade after Yeats’ poem: “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

From Slate

He has no meaningful primary opposition and has no need to make up ground with Trump for any heresies committed during the 2020 interregnum.

From Slate

We have entered what I have come to think of as the Oscars’ interregnum, that anxious, frequently tedious period between the announcement of the nominees and the unveiling of the winners.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• interim