Govern

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈɡʌvÉšn/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒvÉ™(ɹ)n

Origin

Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernaō, "I steer, drive, govern")

Full definition of govern

Verb

1. (transitive) To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
2. (transitive) To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.Govern yourselves like civilized people.a student who could not govern his impulses.
3. (transitive) To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.Chance usually governs the outcome of the game.
4. (transitive) To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.a valve that governs fuel intake.
5. (intransitive) To exercise political authority; to run a government.
6. (intransitive) To have or exercise a determining influence.
7. (transitive) To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.

Related terms

• government
• governance
• governor
• governess