govern
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govern
- /ˈɡʌv.ən/ UK
- /ˈɡʌv.ɚn/ Canada, US
- /ˈɡɐv.ən/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -ʌvə(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
From Middle English governen, governe, from Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, guverner, from Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, drive, govern”). Displaced native Old English wealdan, whence modern dialectical English wald (“to govern”).
verb governs · governing · governed
- To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in. The old king governed the land wisely.
- To exercise political authority; to run a government. Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of.
- To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain. Govern yourselves like civilized people.
- To exercise a deciding or determining influence on. Chance governs the outcome of many card games.
- To have or exercise a determining influence.
- To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).
- To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate. a valve that governs fuel intake
- To direct the course of, to guide in some direction, to steer.
- To look after, to take care of, to tend to (someone or some plant). from my vncles country of Medea, Where all my youth I haue bene gouerned, […]
- To manage, to control, to work (a tool or mechanical device).
- To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word. In Latin (Russian, German, etc.), not only verbs, but also prepositions, may govern the noun, pronoun or noun-phrase dependent upon them in a particular case: e.g. ad urbem, ‘to the city’ (ad ‘takes the accusative’: urbem) v. ab urbe, ‘from the city’ (ab ‘takes the ablative’: urbe).
noun governs
- The act of governing
