governor

American  

[guhv-er-ner, -uh-ner] / ˈgʌv ər nər, -ə nər /

noun

• governors
  plural

1. the executive head of a state in the U.S.

2. a person charged with the direction or control of an institution, society, etc..

   the governors of a bank; the governor of a prison.

3. Also called governor general. the representative of the crown, as in the Commonwealth of Nations.

4. a ruler or chief magistrate appointed to govern a province, town, fort, or the like.

5. Machinery. a device for maintaining uniform speed regardless of changes of load, as by regulating the supply of fuel or working fluid.

6. British Informal.

   1. one's father.

   2. one's employer.

   3. any man of superior rank or status.

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governor British  

/ ˈɡʌvənə /

noun

1. a person who governs

2. the ruler or chief magistrate of a colony, province, etc

3. the representative of the Crown in a British colony

4. the senior administrator or head of a society, prison, etc

5. the chief executive of any state in the US

6. a device that controls the speed of an engine, esp by regulating the supply of fuel, etc, either to limit the maximum speed or to maintain a constant speed

7. Also called: head. grammar

   1. a word in a phrase or clause that is the principal item and gives the function of the whole, as hat in the big red hat

   2. ( as modifier )

      a governor noun

8. informal a name or title of respect for a father, employer, etc

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Pronunciation

In governor, the process of dissimilation—the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike or for one of them to disappear entirely—commonly results in the loss of the first of , producing the pronunciation . This pronunciation is heard even in regions where postvocalic is not usually dropped. A further loss, of the medial unstressed vowel, results in . All three pronunciations are standard. See colonel, February, library.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subgovernor
  noun
• undergovernor
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• governors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of governor

1250–1300; Middle English governour < Old French governeor, gouverneur < Latin gubernātōrem, accusative of gubernātor, equivalent to gubernā(re) to steer, govern + -tor -tor

Explanation

A governor leads a state government, just like a president leads a national government. If you know that governing means to be in charge of something, that should help you remember what a governor is. Just as mayors run cities and presidents and prime ministers run countries, governors run states. A governor is elected for a term, has a vice governor, and deals with a legislature, just like the U.S. President. Governor is a very important title in the U.S., and many governors — such as Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush — have gone on to become U.S. presidents.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

governor governors

They are also calling on the state governor, Bill Lee, to downgrade Pike's punishment to the lesser sentence of life in prison without parole.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Speaking in Turkey, Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said more interest-rate hikes will be needed if economic data come in as expected, but he sees some flexibility on timing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Alexei Tsydenov, governor of the neighbouring Buryatia region, said in a social media post that a woman in the Irkutsk region had "died of plague", before editing the post to add the word "possibly".

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

His first budget as governor, in 2019, clocked in at nearly $215 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

"Let's say no more. If you are a bad governor, it will be your fault, but the shame will be mine."

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

In the report, AmCham alleged that Castillo, Kyaw and Islam entered and arranged payment for the contract with Mercury without the knowledge and authorization of its board of governors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Then on October 13, governors will release a second tranche of 650 prisoners who have been serving sentences of between 19 months and two years and five months.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

We’ll see how successful Bonta is on that endeavor — he hasn’t always gotten what he wants from governors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Powell remains on the central bank’s board of governors.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

We watched the lineup of governors coming on the TV screen asking for “calm and reason.”

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd