government

[ guhv-ern-muhnt, ‑er-muhnt ]

noun

1. 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.

2. the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed:

   monarchical government; episcopal government.

3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.
4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole:

   a dam built by the government.

5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)
   1. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time:

      The prime minister has formed a new government.

   2. the parliament along with the cabinet:

      The government has fallen.

6. direction; control; management; rule:

   the government of one's conduct.

7. a district governed; province.
8. political science.
9. 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.

government

/ ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl; ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl; ˈɡʌvənmənt; ˈɡʌvəmənt /

noun

1. 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
2. the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled

   tyrannical government

3. 1. the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration

      yesterday we got a new government

   2. ( capital when of a specific country )

      the British Government

4. 1. the state and its administration

      blame it on the government

   2. ( as modifier )

      a government agency

5. regulation; direction
6. grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

Grammar Note

See collective noun.

Pronunciation Note

Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first [n] of [guhv, -ern-m, uh, nt] assimilates to the immediately following [m], with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation [guhv, -er-m, uh, nt]. This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic [r] is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is [guhv, -, uh, -m, uh, nt] or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel, [guhv, -m, uh, nt]. Further assimilation, in which the labiodental [v], in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following [m], becomes the bilabial stop [b], leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation [guhb, -m, uh, nt]. See isn't.

Derived Forms

• governmental, adjective
• ˌgovernˈmentally, adverb

Other Words From

• gov·ern·men·tal [guhv-ern-, men, -tl, ‑er-, men, ‑], 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of government¹

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

Example Sentences

It’s an old cliche and true: Squeaky wheels get the government grease.

From Los Angeles Times

“We need to recognize our differences, sow trust in our government and our institutions, and foster compromise.”

From Science Magazine

He hasn’t served in the department in any capacity, and his tenure on the House Judiciary Committee alone does not qualify him to run a complex government agency.

From Slate

But probation staff say this week they were told by the government that the backlog of offenders who needed to be tagged had reached "acceptable levels".

From BBC

But the government has not defined what that exactly means.

From BBC

Related Words

• authority
• law
• ministry
• politics
• power
• regime
• rule
• state
• union