Realm
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- For other meanings see Realm (disambiguation)
A Realm is the dominions of a king (or queen), a kingdom. The Old French reaume (modern French royaume) was the form first adopted in English, and the modern spelling does not appear fixed until the beginning of the 17th century. The word must be referred to a supposed Med. Lat. regalimen, from regalis, of or belonging to a rex, (king).<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "REALM"</ref>
It is particularly used for those states whose name includes the word Kingdom (for example, the United Kingdom), to avoid clumsy repetition of the word in a sentence. (For example, "The Queen's realm, the United Kingdom...".)
It frequently used to refer to territories "under" a monarch, yet not a physical part of his or her "kingdom"; for example, the various Commonwealth Realms under the British crown, in Realm of Sweden, or to Holstein that until the Second War of Schleswig was an important part of the Danish king's realm stretching to the border of Hamburg, although not a part of the Danish kingdom. Similarly, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau are considered parts of the Realm of New Zealand, though they are not part of New Zealand proper. Likewise, the Faroe Islands and Greenland remain parts of the Danish Realm.
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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "REALM", a publication now in the public domain.
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