government

American  

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

noun

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

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

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

The envoy said Russia was committed to helping him and proposed cooperation with Equatorial Guinea to prevent such cases in the future, a statement by the African government said.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

U.S. stock futures and Treasurys fell and Japan’s benchmark government bond yield jumped to a near 30-year high, after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran broke without resolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

The government said it was working with the Hillsborough families to "get this bill right".

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Another factor is that it will be tough to end tariffs when they’re bringing in big money for the federal government.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

“Our government put out the call for Local Defense Volunteers—the Home Guard, as Mr. Churchill calls us—and you stepped forward. And you could not have done so at a more critical time.”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

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