Régime /(r?`zh?m")/

Ré·gime

Régime

n.
  1. Mode or system of rule or management; character of government, or of the prevailing social system.
    I dream . . . of the new régime which is to come.
    — H. Kingsley.
  2. The condition of a river with respect to the rate of its flow, as measured by the volume of water passing different cross sections in a given time, uniform régime being the condition when the flow is equal and uniform at all the cross sections. (Hydraul.)

Phrases & Compounds
The ancient régime
the former political and social system, as distinguished from the modern; especially, the political and social system existing in France before the Revolution of 1789.