government

American  

[guhv-ern-muhnt, ‑er-muhnt] / ˈgʌv ərn mənt, ‑ər mənt /

noun

governments plural

1. the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration.

   Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.

2. the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed.

   monarchical government; episcopal government.

3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.

4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole.

   a dam built by the government.

5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)

   1. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time.

      The prime minister has formed a new government.

   2. the parliament along with the cabinet.

      The government has fallen.

6. direction; control; management; rule.

   the government of one's conduct.

7. a district governed; province.

8. political science.

9. Grammar. the extablished usage that requires that one word in a sentence should cause another to be of a particular form.

   the government of the verb by its subject.

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government British  

/ ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl, ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl, ˈɡʌvənmənt, ˈɡʌvəmənt /

noun

1. the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs, etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and administration

2. the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled

   tyrannical government

3. 1. the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration

      yesterday we got a new government

   2. ( capital when of a specific country )

      the British Government

4. 1. the state and its administration

      blame it on the government

   2. ( as modifier )

      a government agency

5. regulation; direction

6. grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Pronunciation

Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first of assimilates to the immediately following , with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation . This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel, . Further assimilation, in which the labiodental , in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following , becomes the bilabial stop , leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation . See isn't.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countergovernment
  noun
• nongovernment
  noun
• regovernment
  noun
• subgovernment
  noun
• undergovernment
  noun
• governmental
  adjective
• nongovernmental
  adjective
• pro-government
  adjective
• semigovernmental
  adjective
• ungovernmental
  adjective
• governmentally
  adverb
• semigovernmentally
  adverb
• ungovernmentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• governments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of government

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Old French word governement. See govern, -ment

Explanation

Your government is the system of people, laws, and officials that define and control the country that you live in. The U.S. government, for example, is a representative democracy with three branches. There are many different kinds of government, but they all do essentially the same thing: "govern" or oversee the rules, regulations, and interactions of the people who live under them. For the most part, a government is concerned with public life, though many of the laws that a government like ours establishes and enforces can regulate what happens in private life, too. If you work for the government, you're in public life. If you work for a company, you're in the private sector.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

government governments

This begins with correcting the dearth of knowledge inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. government agencies about the Brotherhood and Islamism in general.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Andy Burnham has pledged his government will be "relentless" in curbing the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

“I don’t know of a case where legitimate victims of a crime were denied money because the government wants to keep it for itself.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

The prime minister said progress had been made and the government was "changing the whole approach", with enforcement officers tackling people-smuggling gangs doubled on both sides of the Channel.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

“Like research papers from actual scientific journals. Statistics from government agencies. Stuff that’s true.”

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

Scientists and governments have legitimate reasons to investigate the origins of a pandemic.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

In a separate letter to von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he had "serious concerns" about some European governments.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Regional and Western governments welcomed the proposal’s announcement while acknowledging the difficulties facing its implementation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Second, make work safer, with governments setting heat standards so vulnerable workers — in the garment industry, for example — aren't risking their lives.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

Many governments, agencies, and foundations base their policies, foreign aid, and loans on this explanation, by making the development of good institutions in poor countries their top priority.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• authority
• law
• ministry
• politics
• power
• regime
• rule
• state
• union