govern

CEFRB2

/ˈɡʌv.ən/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
verb
To control and manage a country, organization, or system.
02
verb
Extra detail
To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.

Examples

In Great Britain the king reigns, but does not govern.
It is undemocratic to govern an area without an electoral mandate.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 1

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

To exercise political authority; to run a government.
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.

More examples

In context

That made him govern himself.
The old king governed the land wisely.
a student who could not govern his impulses

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The elected council will blank the town for the next four years.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else.
2016, Justin Deschamps, Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else.
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.
2025 April 28, Ross Douthat, Nick Adams, “Condition of America”, in New Left Review, number 152, →ISSN, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2025
This female hyena also gets erections and is larger, more aggressive than the male hyenas and lives in matrilineal clans of up to 80 individuals governed by an alpha female matriarch.
2022 June 12, Katie Hunt, “How zoology got female animals all wrong”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2022
The weight and c.g. of the aircraft were within limits at takeoff and were calculated to have remained so until the tail began to disintegrate in flight. Both engines were developing a high level of power at impact, and the APU was rotating at or near governed speed. The landing gear, flaps, and spoiler/speed brakes were retracted. There was no evidence of structural or system failures other than those directly resulting from the fire.
1968 April 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.1 Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Mohawk Airlines, Inc., BAC 1-11, N1116J, Near Blossburg, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1967, archived from the original on 24 Jun 2022, page 33
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).
1968, John Lyons, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 241

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Origin

verb

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”).

Deep Dive

verb

More examples

Related

Quick test

The elected council will blank— the town for the next four years.

Nearby

Origin

verb

The elected council will blank the town for the next four years.