govern
/ˈɡʌv.ɚn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.67 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The old king governed the land wisely."
- "Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of."
- "Govern yourselves like civilized people."
- "a student who could not govern his impulses"
- "Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else."
- "This female hyena also gets erections and is larger, more aggressive than the male hyenas and lives in matrilineal clans of up to 80 individuals governed by an alpha female matriarch."
Etymology
From Middle English governen, governe, from Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, guverner, from Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, drive, govern”). Displaced native Old English wealdan, whence modern dialectical English wald (“to govern”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡʌv.ɚn/
- British English: /ˈɡʌv.ən/