Definitions for: Govern


[v] direct or strongly influence the behavior of; "His belief in God governs his conduct"
[v] bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations; "We cannot regulate the way people dress"; "This town likes to regulate"
[v] exercise authority over; as of nations; "Who is governing the country now?"
[v] require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood; "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German"



Webster (1913) Definition: Gov"ern, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Governed; p. pr. & vb.
n. Governing.] [OF. governer, F. gouverner, fr. L.
gubernare to steer, pilot, govern, Gr. kyberna^n. Cf.
Gubernatorial.]
1. To direct and control, as the actions or conduct of men,
either by established laws or by arbitrary will; to
regulate by authority. ``Fit to govern and rule
multitudes.'' --Shak.

2. To regulate; to influence; to direct; to restrain; to
manage; as, to govern the life; to govern a horse.

Govern well thy appetite. --Milton.

3. (Gram.) To require to be in a particular case; as, a
transitive verb governs a noun in the objective case; or
to require (a particular case); as, a transitive verb
governs the objective case.


Gov"ern, v. i.
To exercise authority; to administer the laws; to have the
control. --Dryden.

Synonyms: order, regularize, regulate, rule

Antonyms: deregulate

See Also: ask, call for, command, control, decide, demand, determine, dictate, district, involve, make up one's mind, misgovern, necessitate, need, postulate, reign, require, standardise, standardize, take, throne, zone

Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Cheat

Words With Friends Cheat

Hanging With Friends Cheat

Scramble With Friends Cheat

Ruzzle Cheat



Related Resources:
l letter animals
animal facts
animals starting with c