- (also intr) to direct and control the actions, affairs, policies, functions, etc of (a political unit, organization, nation, etc); rule
- to exercise restraint over; regulate or direct: to govern one's temper
- to be a predominant influence on (something); decide or determine (something): his injury governed his decision to avoid sports
- to control the speed of (an engine, machine, etc) using a governor
- to control the rate of flow of (a fluid) by using an automatic valve
- (of a word) to determine the inflection of (another word): Latin nouns govern adjectives that modify them
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
gov•ern /ˈgʌvɚn/USA pronunciation
v.
gov•ern•ance /ˈgʌvɚnəns/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Governmentto rule by right of authority, as a king or queen or elected administrator does: [~ + object]to govern a nation.[no object]I'm sure he governs fairly.
- to exercise a directing or restraining influence over; control:[~ + object]the motives that govern a decision.
- to hold in check;
control:[~ + object]to govern one's temper.
gov•ern•ance /ˈgʌvɚnəns/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
gov•ern
(guv′ərn),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
gov′ern•a•ble, adj.
gov′ern•a•bil′i•ty, gov′ern•a•ble•ness, n.
- Governmentto rule over by right of authority:to govern a nation.
- to exercise a directing or restraining influence over;
guide:the motives governing a decision. - to hold in check;
control:to govern one's temper. - to serve as or constitute a law for:the principles governing a case.
- Grammarto be regularly accompanied by or require the use of (a particular form). In They helped us, the verb helped governs the objective case of the pronoun we.
- Mechanical Engineeringto regulate the speed of (an engine) with a governor.
v.i.
- Governmentto exercise the function of government.
- to have predominating influence.
- Greek kybernân to steer
- Latin gubernāre to steer (a ship)
- Old French gouverner
- Middle English 1250–1300
gov′ern•a•bil′i•ty, gov′ern•a•ble•ness, n.
- 1. reign. See rule. 2. control, sway, influence, conduct, supervise, superintend.
- 1. obey.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
govern /ˈɡʌvən/ vb (mainly tr)
'govern' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
bind
- dominate
- erect
- Eros
- ethics
- historicism
- margrave
- misrule
- Palestinian National Authority
- region
- semantics
- zeugma
- bridle
- command
- control
- diocese
- director
- governance
- government
- governor
- gubernaculum
- guide
- harmost
- head
- HLA gene
- irrationalism
- judge
- manage
- master
- misgovern
- over
- overlord
- popular sovereignty
- postposition
- president
- probabilism
- propraetor
- régisseur
- regulate
- reign
- rule
- tyrannize
- ungovernable
- wield
- space law
- statute
- sway