government

[ guhv-ern-muhnt, ‐er-muhnt ]

See synonyms for: government governmentally governmental on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.
the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed: monarchical government; episcopal government.

the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.
a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole: a dam built by the government.
(in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)
- the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time: The prime minister has formed a new government.
- the parliament along with the cabinet: The government has fallen.
direction; control; management; rule: the government of one's conduct.
a district governed; province.
political science.
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.

Origin of government

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

Grammar notes for government

See collective noun.

pronunciation note For government

Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first

[n] /n/ of

[guhv-ern-muhnt] /ˈgʌv ərn mənt/ assimilates to the immediately following

[m], /m/, with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation

[guhv-er-muhnt]. /ˈgʌv ər mənt/. This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic

[r] /r/ is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is

[guhv-uh-muhnt] /ˈgʌv ə mənt/ or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel,

[guhv-muhnt]. /ˈgʌv mənt/. Further assimilation, in which the labiodental

[v], /v/, in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following

[m], /m/, becomes the bilabial stop

[b], /b/, leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation

[guhb-muhnt]. /ˈgʌb mənt/. See isn't.

Other words from government

gov·ern·men·tal [guhv-ern-men-tl, ‐er-men‐], /ˌgʌv ərnˈmɛn tl, ‐ərˈmɛn‐/, adjective
gov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverb
coun·ter·gov·ern·ment, noun
non·gov·ern·ment, noun
non·gov·ern·men·tal, adjective
pro-gov·ern·ment, adjective
re·gov·ern·ment, noun
sem·i·gov·ern·men·tal, adjective
sem·i·gov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverb
sub·gov·ern·ment, noun
un·der·gov·ern·ment, noun
un·gov·ern·men·tal, adjective
un·gov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use government in a sentence

There is little government oversight of company claims about environmental impact.
Trying to shop sustainably? Here’s what you need to consider. | Sarah Kaplan | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post
At the time, the government told the justices they should decide for themselves the “significant separation of powers” issues raised in the case.
Supreme Court postpones hearing on congressional effort to obtain secret Mueller material | Robert Barnes | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post
There will probably be enough vaccine for 25 million to 30 million people a month in early 2021, according to Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser of Operation Warp Speed, the federal government initiative to speed up vaccine development.
Pfizer and BioNTech will seek regulatory clearance of their coronavirus vaccine | Carolyn Y. Johnson | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post
The District government has historically brought in law enforcement officers from across the country as reinforcement during the inauguration — a tradition complicated this year by the pandemic.
What will Inauguration Day look like amid a pandemic? | Emily Davies, Justin Jouvenal | November 19, 2020 | Washington Post
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and five other institutions announced they would close Friday for six weeks because of changes in government directives.
Smithsonian, National Gallery to close as coronavirus cases spike | Peggy McGlone, Sebastian Smee | November 19, 2020 | Washington Post

You need to build the system and run the sport as a governmental responsibility.
Putin’s Hockey Pal Tells All: Slava Fetisov on ‘Red Army,’ Soviet Nostalgia, and What Drives Putin | Marlow Stern | October 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It languishes on what is known as the gray list overseen by the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body.
How to Cut Off ISIS Terror Tycoons | Jamie Dettmer | September 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It will also take a concerted effort by Muslim, governmental, and other community leaders working together to counter extremism.
It'll Take More Than Bombs to Stop ISIS | Dean Obeidallah | September 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
There had been British governmental discussions that the islands could be leased back to Argentina.
The Never-Ending Falklands War: In Buenos Aires, A Museum's Selective History | Michael Luongo | August 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I fear the latter, given the draconian governmental measures over a single case, but time will tell.
It’s Not Time to Worry About China’s Plague Just Yet | Kent Sepkowitz | July 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It was strenuously opposed by all possible means, governmental, legislative, and literary.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
It was resigned to the Spanish governmental system of spoliation, and no one thought of reforms.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
Governmental care of the unemployed, the infant and the infirm, sounds like a chapter in socialism.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
The people on the eastern side have always strongly opposed anything approaching governmental cohesion with the other side.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
Certainly they have “injured this stone” by carving upon it the Governmental “broad arrow.”
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries | Charles G. Harper

British Dictionary definitions for government

government

/ (ˈɡʌvənmənt, ˈɡʌvəmənt) /

noun

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
the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled: tyrannical government

- the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration: yesterday we got a new government
- (capital when of a specific country): the British Government
- the state and its administration: blame it on the government
- (as modifier): a government agency
regulation; direction
grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

Derived forms of government

governmental (ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl, ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl), adjective
governmentally, adverb

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

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