Search the Dictionary

f men, either by established laws or by arbitrary will; to regulate by authority. "Fit to govern and rule multitudes." Shak.

Governableness.

Capable of being governed, or subjected to authority; controllable; manageable; obedient. Locke.

The quality of being governable; manageableness.

Management; mastery. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

Exercise of authority; control; government; arrangement. Chaucer. J. H. Newman.

A governess. Sir W. Scott.

A female governor; a woman invested with authority to control and direct; especially, one intrusted with the care and instruction of children, -- usually in their homes.

Holding the superiority; prevalent; controlling; as, a governing wind; a governing party in a state. Jay.

The act of governing; the exercise of authority; the administration of laws; control; direction; regulation; as, civil, church, or family government.

Pertaining to government; made by government; as, governmental duties.

One who governs; especially, one who is invested with the supreme executive authority in a State; a chief ruler or magistrate; as, the governor of Pennsylvania. "The governor of the town." Shak.

A governor who has lieutenant or deputy governors under him; as, the governor general of Canada, of India.

The office of a governor.

To govern ill; as, to misgovern a country. Knolles.

Misgovernment; misconduct; misbehavior. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

Ill governed, as a people; ill directed. "Rude, misgoverned hands." Shak.

Bad government; want of government. Shak.

A speed regulator, as a water-wheel governor, embodying the relay principle. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

The act of governing one's self, or the state of being governed by one's self; self-control; self-command.