Etymology 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”).
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
The old king governed the land wisely.
2
To exercise political authority; to run a government.
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:
3
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
2 more examples
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.:
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:
4
To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
Chance governs the outcome of many card games.
5
To have or exercise a determining influence.
6
Obsolete To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).
7
To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
a valve that governs fuel intake
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:
1 more example
The investigation reveals that flutter onset is consistently governed by the coupling of the first two structural modes, establishing the primary instability boundary, while a secondary instability pathway involving the third and fourth modes uniquely emerges for the fully extended wing.2026, Tianxing Chen, Kun Guo, Huichao Deng, Yuchen Xia, Hao Luo, Yunlong Li and Xiuwei Tian, “Flutter Analysis of a Morphing Wing Considering Fluid–Thermal–Structure Coupling”, in AIAA Journal:
8
Obsolete To direct the course of, to guide in some direction, to steer.
9
Obsolete To look after, to take care of, to tend to (someone or some plant).
from my vncles country of Medea, Where all my youth I haue bene gouerned, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
10
Obsolete To manage, to control, to work (a tool or mechanical device).
11
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word.
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:
Etymology 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”).