govern

govern [guv′ərn]

vt.

[ME governen < OFr gouverner < L gubernare, to pilot (a ship), direct, guide < Gr kybernan, to steer, govern, prob. of non-IE orig.]

1. to exercise authority over; rule, administer, direct, control, manage, etc.

2. to influence the action or conduct of; guide; sway [to govern public opinion]

3. to hold in check; restrain; curb [to govern one's temper]

4. to regulate the speed of (an automobile, etc.) by means of a governor

5. to be a rule or law for; determine [the scientific principles governing a phenomenon]

6. Gram.

a) to require (a word) to be in a certain case or mood

b) to require (a particular case or mood): used as of prepositions with noun cases, esp. in highly inflected languages, and, in English, more loosely, of any interrelationship between forms, as that between a preposition and a following pronoun

vi.

to exercise the function of governing; rule

governable

adj.

SYN.- GOVERN implies the exercise of authority in controlling the actions of the members of a body politic and directing the affairs of state, and generally connotes as its purpose the maintenance of public order and the promotion of the common welfare; RULE now usually signifies the exercise of arbitrary or autocratic power; ADMINISTER implies the orderly management of governmental affairs by executive officials