# govern
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English governen, governe, from Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, guverner, from Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, govern”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɡʌvən/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɡʌvɚn/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)n
* Hyphenation: gov‧ern

### Verb

govern (third-person singular simple present governs, present participle governing, simple past and past participle governed)
* (transitive) To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
    The old king governed the land wisely.
* (intransitive) To exercise political authority; to run a government.
* (transitive) To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
    Govern yourselves like civilized people.
    a student who could not govern his impulses
** 2016, Justin Deschamps, Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else.:Find the strength, courage, and discipline to govern yourself or be governed by someone else.
* (transitive) To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
    Chance governs the outcome of many card games.
* (intransitive) To have or exercise a determining influence.
* (transitive, obsolete) To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).
* (transitive) To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
    a valve that governs fuel intake
** 1968 April 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.1 Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Mohawk Airlines, Inc., BAC 1-11, N1116J, Near Blossburg, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1967‎, archived from the original on 24 June 2022, page 33:The weight and c.g. of the aircraft were within limits at takeoff and were calculated to have remained so until the tail began to disintegrate in flight. Both engines were developing a high level of power at impact, and the APU was rotating at or near governed speed. The landing gear, flaps, and spoiler/speed brakes were retracted. There was no evidence of structural or system failures other than those directly resulting from the fire.
* (transitive, obsolete) To direct the course of, to guide in some direction, to steer.
* (transitive, obsolete) To look after, to take care of, to tend to (someone or some plant).
** c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:from my vncles country of Medea, Where all my youth I haue bene gouerned, […]
* (transitive, obsolete) To manage, to control, to work (a tool or mechanical device).
* (transitive, grammar) To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.
    Coordinate term: agree

#### Derived terms

* cogovern
* e-govern
* governable
* governate
* governee
* governless
* misgovern
* overgovern
* self-govern

#### Related terms

* governance
* governess
* government
* governor

#### Translations

Afrikaans: regeer (af)
Albanian: qeveris (sq)
Arabic: حَكَمَ (ar) (ḥakama), تَحَكَّمَ (taḥakkama), مَلَكَ (ar) (malaka)
Egyptian Arabic: حكم (ḥakam)
Armenian: կառավարել (hy) (kaṙavarel)
Asturian: gobernar
Azerbaijani: idarə etmək (az)
Belarusian: пра́віць impf (právicʹ), кірава́ць impf (kiravácʹ)
Bengali: শাসন করা (śaśon kora)
Bulgarian: управля́вам (bg) impf (upravljávam)
Burmese: အုပ်စိုး (my) (upcui:), ကြီးကဲ (my) (kri:kai:)
Catalan: governar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 治理 (zh) (zhìlǐ), 治 (zh) (zhì), 統治 / 统治 (zh) (tǒngzhì)
Czech: vládnout (cs) impf, řídit (cs) impf
Danish: regere (da) over, beherske, styre (da)
Dutch: regeren (nl), besturen (nl)
Egyptian: (ḥqꜣ)
Estonian: valitsema, juhtima
Finnish: hallita (fi)
French: gouverner (fr)
Friulian: guviernâ
Galician: governar
Georgian: მართვა (martva), მმართველობა (mmartveloba), მართავს (martavs), მმართველობს (mmartvelobs)
German: regieren (de), steuern (de)
Greek: κυβερνώ (el) (kyvernó)
Ancient: εὐθύνω (euthúnō)
Haitian Creole: gouvène
Hebrew: מָשַׁל (he) (mashál)
Hindi: हुकूमत करना (hukūmat karnā), शासन करना (śāsan karnā)
Hungarian: kormányoz (hu), vezet (hu), igazgat (hu), irányít (hu)
Icelandic: stjórna
Indonesian: memerintah (id)
Italian: governare (it)
Japanese: 支配する (ja) (しはいする, shihai suru), 統治する (ja) (とうちする, tōchi suru)
Kazakh: басқару (basqaru)
Khmer: គ្រប់គ្រង (km) (krup krɔɔng)
Korean: 통치하다 (tongchihada), 다스리다 (ko) (daseurida)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: rêvebirin (ku), îdare kirin (ku)
Kyrgyz: башкаруу (ky) (başkaruu)
Lao: ປົກຄອງ (pok khǭng)
Latin: gubernō, regō
Latvian: valdīt
Ligurian: governâ
Lithuanian: valdyti
Macedonian: управува impf (upravuva)
Malay: memerintah
Maltese: iggverna
Maori: kāwana, whakahaere tikanga
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: удирдах (mn) (udirdax)
Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠤᠷᠢᠳᠬᠤ (uduridqu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: regjere (no), styre (no)
Oromo: bulchuu
Pashto: حکومت کول (hokumatkawᶕl), حکم چلول (hokémčalawǝ́l)
Persian: حکومت کردن (fa) (hokumat kardan)
Polish: rządzić (pl) impf, władać (pl) impf
Portuguese: governar (pt)
Romanian: guverna (ro)
Romansch: reger, riger, regner, regnar
Russian: пра́вить (ru) impf (právitʹ), управля́ть (ru) impf (upravljátʹ)
Sanskrit: राष्टि (rāṣṭi)
Sardinian: cuberrare, gruvennae, guvernai, guvernare
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: у̀прављати impf, вла́дати impf
Roman: ùpravljati (sh) impf, vládati (sh) impf
Sicilian: cuvirnari, guvirnari
Slovak: vládnuť impf, riadiť impf
Slovene: vladati (sl) impf
Spanish: gobernar (es)
Swedish: regera (sv), härska (sv), styra (sv)
Tajik: идора кардан (tg) (idora kardan)
Tatar: башкарырга (başkarırga)
Tetum: ukun
Thai: ปกครอง (th) (bpòk-krɔɔng)
Turkish: hüküm sürmek (tr), idare etmek (tr)
Turkmen: dolandyrmak
Ukrainian: пра́вити impf (právyty), керува́ти impf (keruváty)
Urdu: حکومت کرنا (hukūmat karnā)
Uzbek: boshqarmoq (uz), idora qilmoq
Venetan: goernar (vec), guernar (vec), governar
Vietnamese: cai trị (vi), thống trị (vi)
Volapük: reigön (vo), guverön (vo)
Welsh: arglwyddïo
Yiddish: רעגירן (regirn) :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

govern (plural governs)
* The act of governing

## Catalan
### Etymology

From the verb governar, or possibly from Late Latin gubernus or gubernius, from Latin gubernum or gubernō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ɡuˈβɛrn]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ɡoˈvɛrn]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ɡoˈvɛɾn]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

govern m (plural governs)
* government

#### Related terms

* governar

### References

* ↑ “govern”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

### Further reading

* “govern” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “govern” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “govern” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.