govern
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to officially run a country, city, or organization and make its laws.
to exercise sovereign authority or administer public policy for a state, organization, or people.
Simple“The country is governed by a group of elected officials who meet every week.”
In context“The coalition government struggled to govern effectively while facing constant internal disagreements over economic policy.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice when describing how a country is led.
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to have a strong influence on how something happens or how someone behaves.
to exercise a deciding or determining influence on an outcome, behavior, or process.
Simple“Common sense should govern your decisions when you are traveling alone.”
In context“The laws of physics govern the movement of the planets around the sun.”
UsageFrequently used with abstract subjects like 'laws', 'rules', or 'principles'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
to keep your feelings or behavior under control.
to restrain or control one's actions, emotions, or impulses.
Simple“You must learn to govern your temper if you want to succeed in this job.”
In context“He found it increasingly difficult to govern his mounting frustration during the long and repetitive meeting.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
in grammar, when a word makes you use a specific form or ending for another word.
to require that a following word take a specific grammatical case, mood, or preposition.
Simple“In this sentence, the preposition 'with' is governed by the verb.”
In context“In many inflected languages, the choice of preposition directly governs the case of the following noun phrase.”
UsageUsed specifically in linguistic and grammatical analysis.
Usage governing body · govern by · governing bodies
“His cousin Adegboyega Oyetola governed the state from 2018 to 2022 before losing to Adeleke.”
“A: Yes, Spain has lots of rules governing ride-hailing services.”
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.