Synonyms

govern

American

[guhv-ern] / ˈgʌv ərn /

verb (used with object)

to rule over by right of authority.

to govern a nation.

Synonyms:

reign

Antonyms:

obey
to exercise a directing or restraining influence over; guide.

the motives governing a decision.

Synonyms:

superintend, supervise, conduct, influence, sway, control
to hold in check; control.

to govern one's temper.
to serve as or constitute a law for.

the principles governing a case.
Grammar. to be regularly accompanied by or require the use of (a particular form). In They helped us, the verb helped governs the objective case of the pronoun we.
to regulate the speed of (an engine) with a governor.

verb (used without object)

to exercise the function of government.
to have predominating influence.

govern British

/ ˈɡʌvən /

verb

(also intr) to direct and control the actions, affairs, policies, functions, etc, of (a political unit, organization, nation, etc); rule
to exercise restraint over; regulate or direct

to govern one's temper
to be a predominant influence on (something); decide or determine (something)

his injury governed his decision to avoid sports
to control the speed of (an engine, machine, etc) using a governor
to control the rate of flow of (a fluid) by using an automatic valve
(of a word) to determine the inflection of (another word)

Latin nouns govern adjectives that modify them

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does govern mean? Govern means to rule over something with authority, as in In a democracy, people elect those who will govern them. Govern can also mean to hold something in check, like your temper. And govern can mean to act as a guiding force, as when your stomach governs your food choices. Govern, meaning to rule over something, is almost always used to refer to government or politics, as in The president did his best to govern the country during the war. Presidents and prime ministers are examples of people who govern countries or nations. A person who governs something might be called a governor but is just as likely to be referred to by an official title. Govern can also mean to control or curb something, as in The waiter wanted to shout at the rude customer but he managed to govern his anger. Govern is also used to mean to restrain influence over something by acting as a guide, as in The lawyer always let his strong sense of justice govern his actions. Example: Most voters were undecided who would be better at governing the country.

Synonym Usage

See rule.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of govern

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French gouverner, from Latin gubernāre “to steer (a ship),” from Greek kybernân “to steer”; cf. cybernetics ( def. )

Explanation

To govern is to rule, lead, oversee, or otherwise control. Each U.S. state has its own governor, whose job it is to govern the affairs of that state. While it's true that governors govern — that is, they head the executive branch of their state government — there are lots of other ways to use the verb govern. Almost anything that controls or has a lot of influence over something else can be said to govern. The rules of tennis, for example, govern the way that game is played. In mechanics, a device that controls other devices is called a governor. My dog's basic needs govern the way my household is run: his schedule is our schedule.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

govern governs governed governing

So, their focus is seeking to steadily build the case for independence in how they choose to govern.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

What makes the findings especially intriguing is that the same fundamental constants that influence liquid flow also govern the nuclear reactions responsible for creating heavy elements inside stars.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

It is impossible, in the 21st century, to identify a single overriding interest or value that ought alone to govern social life, whether freedom, virtue, equality or efficiency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

The United States, China and the European Union are taking different paths to govern artificial intelligence, as calls grow worldwide to rein in its most powerful systems.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

It was thought that a similar equation would govern the proton, which was the only other particle known at the time, and that would be the end of theoretical physics.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

At the centre of the dispute are changes made to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017, external, which governs agreements between telecoms operators and landowners hosting their infrastructure.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

If Mamdani has so far shown a pragmatic streak in how he governs that can feel at odds with the loftier promises of his campaign, some friction with his most hard-line voters might be inevitable.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Along with changing the meeting requirement, Amendment EE would approve other changes to how the city of Los Angeles governs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The treaty governs the use of water from six rivers, whose headwaters originate in India but flow into Pakistan as part of the Indus basin -- a resource relied on by hundreds of millions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

For example: Here’s an explanation of the rhetorical term syllepsis: “the use of a word that relates to, qualifies, or governs two or more other words but has a different meaning in relation to each.”

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Rather than behaving unpredictably, these delayed eruptions may be governed by a common physical threshold.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

It is governed by a strict policy of "complementarity", meaning it can only take on cases a suspect's home country is unwilling or unable to try itself.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Having a single board means that all appeals and applications would be governed by the same logic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The source told the Jerusalem Post, external that the meaning of the French sentence spoken by the president, "Le Hamas n'a jamais sévi en Cisjordanie," was, "Hamas has never governed the West Bank."

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

In a time when kings and emperors ruled much of the world, the Dutch Republic was governed, more than any other nation, by the people.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

The FAI governing body, holding its 120th general conference in Lausanne from Wednesday to Friday, validated the record attempt after verifying the flight data.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

World football's governing body wants to release the money from its reserves in a move which would more than double the level of planned distribution funding for 2027-2030.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

The complaint accuses ICE of violating its own directives governing when the agency can keep immigrants’ property after their release.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Physicists have long investigated whether the constants governing these nuclear processes must fall within certain ranges for complex matter to exist.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

There were ninety-nine guidelines, all of which we had to memorize, governing the minutiae of inmate life.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023