govern

gov·ern  (gvrn)

v. gov·erned, gov·ern·ing, gov·erns

v.tr.

1. To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; exercise sovereign authority in.

2. To control the speed or magnitude of; regulate: a valve that governs fuel intake.

3. To control the actions or behavior of: Govern yourselves like civilized people.

4. To keep under control; restrain: a student who could not govern his impulses.

5. To exercise a deciding or determining influence on: Chance usually governs the outcome of the game.

6. Grammar To require (a specific morphological form) of accompanying words.

v.intr.

1. To exercise political authority.

2. To have or exercise a determining influence.

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[Middle English governen, from Old French governer, from Latin gubernre, from Greek kubernn.]

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govern·a·ble adj.

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govern [ˈgʌv^ən]

vb (mainly tr)

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (also intr) to direct and control the actions, affairs, policies, functions, etc., of (a political unit, organization, nation, etc.); rule

2. to exercise restraint over; regulate or direct to govern one's temper

3. to be a predominant influence on (something); decide or determine (something) his injury governed his decision to avoid sports

4. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) to control the speed of (an engine, machine, etc.) using a governor

5. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) to control the rate of flow of (a fluid) by using an automatic valve

6. (Linguistics) (of a word) to determine the inflection of (another word) Latin nouns govern adjectives that modify them

[from Old French gouverner, from Latin gubernāre to steer, from Greek kubernan]

governable  adj

governability , governableness n

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govern - From Greek kubernan, "to steer."

See also related terms for steer.

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	govern - bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations; "We cannot regulate the way people dress"; "This town likes to regulate" regularise, regularize, regulate, order standardize, standardise - cause to conform to standard or norm; "The weights and measures were standardized" decide, make up one's mind, determine - reach, make, or come to a decision about something; "We finally decided after lengthy deliberations" district, zone - regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns
	2.	govern - direct or strongly influence the behavior of; "His belief in God governs his conduct" control, command - exercise authoritative control or power over; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces"
	3.	govern - exercise authority over; as of nations; "Who is governing the country now?" rule control, command - exercise authoritative control or power over; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces" throne - sit on the throne as a ruler misgovern - govern badly dictate - rule as a dictator reign - have sovereign power; "Henry VIII reigned for a long time"
	4.	govern - require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood; "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German" necessitate, need, require, call for, demand, postulate, involve, ask, 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"

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govern

verb

1. rule, lead, control, command, manage, direct, guide, handle, conduct, order, reign over, administer, oversee, supervise, be in power over, call the shots, call the tune, hold sway over, superintend They go to the polls on Friday to choose the people they want to govern their country.

2. determine, decide, guide, rule, influence, underlie, sway Marine insurance is governed by a strict series of rules and regulations.

3. restrain, control, check, contain, master, discipline, regulate, curb, inhibit, tame, subdue, get the better of, bridle, hold in check, keep a tight rein on Try to govern your temper.

Translations

govern [ˈgʌvən]

A. VT

1. (= rule) [+ country] → gobernar

2. (= control) [+ city, business] → dirigir; [+ choice, decision] → guiar; [+ emotions] → dominar

3. (Ling) → regir

B. VI (Pol) → gobernar

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govern [ˈgʌvə^rn]

vt

(= rule) [+ country] → gouverner
to be governed by → être gouverné(e) par

(= control) → régir

vi [party, ruler] → gouverner

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govern

vt

(= rule) country → regieren; province, colony, school etc → verwalten

(= control: rules, laws etc) → bestimmen; (legislation) → regeln; (= determine, influence) choice, decision → bestimmen, beeinflussen; development, person, actions → beeinflussen; life → beherrschen; regulations governing the sale of spirits → Bestimmungen über den Verkauf von Spirituosen; strict rules governing how much they can earn → strenge Vorschriften darüber, wie viel sie verdienen dürfen; to be governed by somebody’s wishes → sich nach jds Wünschen richten

(= hold in check) passions etc → beherrschen; (Mech) speed, engine → regulieren; to govern one’s temper → sich beherrschen

(Gram) case → regieren; the number of the verb is governed by the subject → das Verb richtet sich in der Zahl nach dem Subjekt

vi (Pol) → regieren, an der Regierung sein

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govern [ˈgʌv/ən] vt (rule, country) → governare; (subj, king) → regnare (in); (control, business) → dirigere; (city) → amministrare; (choice, decision) → regolare; (person) → guidare; (emotions) → dominare (Gram) → reggere

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govern

v govern [ˈgavən]

1 to rule The queen governed (the country) wisely and well. regeer يَحْكُم управлявам vládnout regere; styre regieren κυβερνώ gobernar valitsema حکومت کردن hallita gouverner לִמשׁוֹל शासन करना voditi, upravljati kormányoz memerintah stjórna governare 治める 지배하다 valdyti []valdīt; vadīt memerintah regeren styre, regjere, herske rządzić governar a gu­ver­na править vládnuť vladati vladati styra, regera [] ปกครอง yönetmek, idare etmek 統治 керувати, правити حکومت کرنا cai trị 统治

2 to influence Our policy is governed by three factors. bestuur يُأثِّر تأثيرا شديدا насочвам ovládat bestemme; betinget bestimmen διέπω, επηρεάζω regir juhtima تحت تاثیر قرار دادن؛ اعمال کردن säädellä régir לְהַשפִּיע प्रभाव डालना utjecati na irányít mempengaruhi ákvarða(st), stjórnast, hafa áhrif á reggere, guidare 影響する 영향을 미치다 sąlygoti noteikt; ietekmēt mempengaruhi leiden, beheersen, bepalen påvirke, være bestemt av determinować reger a influenţa обуславливать ovládať vplivati uticati styra, reglera ควบคุม yönlendirmek, yönetmek 影響 регулювати متاثر کرنا chi phối 影响