Definition of govern Govern

/gʌˈvɚn/ - [guvern] - gov•ern

We found 20 definitions of govern from 7 different sources.

What does govern mean?

WordNet

Verb governs, governing, governed
govern - exercise authority over; as of nations; "Who is governing the country now?"
		rule
		command, control make someone do something
		throne sit on the throne as a ruler
		misgovern govern badly
		dictate say out loud for the purpose of recording; "He dictated a report to his secretary"
		reign have sovereign power; "Henry VIII reigned for a long time"
govern - direct or strongly influence the behavior of; "His belief in God governs his conduct"
		command, control make someone do something
govern - require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood; "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German"
		necessitate, need, postulate, call for, require, demand, ask, involve, take require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent"
govern - bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations; "We cannot regulate the way people dress"; "This town likes to regulate"
		regulate, regularize, regularise, order
		deregulate lift the regulations on
		make up one's mind, decide, determine reach, make, or come to a decision about something; "We finally decided after lengthy deliberations"
		standardise, standardize cause to conform to standard or norm; "The weights and measures were standardized"
		district, zone regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns

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Wiktionary

govern (Verb)
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
govern (Verb)
To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
govern (Verb)
To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
govern (Verb)
To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
govern (Verb)
To exercise political authority; to run a government.
govern (Verb)
To have or exercise a determining influence.
govern (Verb)
To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

govern (v. t.)
To direct and control, as the actions or conduct of men, either by established laws or by arbitrary will; to regulate by authority.
govern (v. t.)
To regulate; to influence; to direct; to restrain; to manage; as, to govern the life; to govern a horse.
govern (v. t.)
To require to be in a particular case; as, a transitive verb governs a noun in the objective case; or to require (a particular case); as, a transitive verb governs the objective case.
govern (v. i.)
To exercise authority; to administer the laws; to have the control.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

govern
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority over (nations).
govern
Constituting the legal framework of.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

govern
guv′ėrn, v.t. to direct: to control: to rule with authority: (gram.) to determine the mood, tense, or case of.—v.i. to exercise authority: to administer the laws.—adj. Gov′ernable.—ns. Gov′ernall (Spens.), government; Gov′ernance, government: control: direction: behaviour; Governante (guv-ėr-nant′, or guv′-), a governess (obs.); Gov′erness, a lady who has charge of the instruction of young ladies: a tutoress (Daily-governess, one who goes every day to her pupils' house; Nursery-, having charge of young children only, tending as well as teaching them; Resident-, living in the family of her pupils).—v.i. to act as governess.—n. Gov′erness-cart, a light two-wheeled vehicle with two face-to-face seats at the sides only.—adj. Gov′erning, having control.—n. Gov′ernment, a ruling or managing: control: system of governing: the body of persons authorised to administer the laws, or to govern a state: the territory over which sovereign power extends: (gram.) the power of one word in determining the form of another: (Shak.) conduct.—adj. of or pursued by government.—adj. Government′al, pertaining to or sanctioned by government.—ns. Gov′ernor, a ruler: one invested with supreme authority: a tutor: (slang) a father or master: (mach.) a regulator, or contrivance for maintaining uniform velocity with a varying resistance: (B.) a pilot; Gov′ernor-gen′eral, the supreme governor in a country: a viceroy; Gov′ernorship.—Governmental theory (see Grotian). [O. Fr. governer—L. gubernāre—Gr. kybernan.]

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book ⛵

govern
An officer placed by royal commission in command of a fortress, town, or colony. Governors are also appointed to institutions, hospitals, and other establishments. Also, a revolving bifurcate pendulum, with two iron balls, whose centrifugal divergence equalizes the motion of the steam-engine.