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interregnum

[in-ter-reg-nuhm]

Origin

noun, plural -nums, -na

[-nuh] .

an interval of time between the close of a sovereign's reign and the accession of his or her normal or legitimate successor.

any period during which a state has no ruler or only a temporary executive.

any period of freedom from the usual authority.

any pause or interruption in continuity.

Origin:
1570–80; < Latin, equivalent to inter- inter- + rēgnum reign

Related forms

in·ter·reg·nal, adjective

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To interregnum

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Interregnum is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

interregnum (ˌɪntəˈrɛɡnəm)

—n , pl -nums, -na
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

[C16: from Latin, from inter- + regnumreign]

inter'regnal

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

interregnum

1579, from L., lit. "between-reign," from inter- (q.v.) + regnum (see reign).

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"Postmodernism is, almost by definition, a transitional cusp of social, cultural, economic and ideological history when modernism's high-minded principles and preoccupations have ceased to function, but before they have been replaced with a totally new system of values. It represents a moment of suspension before the batteries are recharged for the new millennium, an acknowledgment that preceding the future is a strange and hybrid interregnum that might be called the last gasp of the past."

-Gilbert Adair

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interregnum

in·ter·reg·num