govern
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Exercise authority over.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
guhvernSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡʌvɚn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Exercise authority over; as of nations
“Who is governing the country now?”
transitive
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
transitive
To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
intransitive
To have or exercise a determining influence.
transitive
To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
transitive
To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
noun
The act of governing
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Exercise authority over; as of nations
Used this way, govern is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Who is governing the country now?”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use govern
- “Who is governing the country now?”verb
- “Most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German.”verb
- “His belief in God governs his conduct.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of governing.
The body of people who are citizens of a particular government.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The head of a state government.
The organization that is the governing authority of a political unit.
The persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A board that manages the affairs of an institution.
The persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The act of governing.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.