government

[guhv-ern-muh nt, ‐er-muh nt] /ˈgʌv ərn mənt, ‐ər mənt/
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.
  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.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Old French governement. See govern, -ment
Related forms
governmental
[guhv-ern-men-tl, ‐er-men‐] /ˌgʌv ərnˈmɛn tl, ‐ərˈmɛn‐/ (Show IPA), adjective
governmentally, adverb
countergovernment, noun
nongovernment, noun
nongovernmental, adjective
pro-government, adjective
regovernment, noun
semigovernmental, adjective
semigovernmentally, adverb
subgovernment, noun
undergovernment, noun
ungovernmental, adjective
ungovernmentally, adverb
Usage note
See collective noun.
Pronunciation note
Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first
[n] /n/ (Show IPA) of
[guhv-ern-muh nt] /ˈgʌv ərn mənt/ assimilates to the immediately following
[m] /m/ with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation
[guhv-er-muh nt] /ˈgʌv ər mənt/ . This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic
[r] /r/ is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is
[guhv-uh-muh nt] /ˈgʌv ə mənt/ or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel,
[guhv-muh nt] /ˈgʌv mənt/ . Further assimilation, in which the labiodental
[v] /v/ in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following
[m] /m/ becomes the bilabial stop
[b] /b/ leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation
[guhb-muh nt] /ˈgʌb mənt/ See isn't.
Examples from the web for government
  • Historically, accreditation has been relatively independent of government.
  • It is a unique "federal district" created specifically to be the seat of government.
  • It's officially considered safe by the government.
  • In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self government.
  • The government is pursuing measures to curb this trend.
  • But the bigger reason is that, this time, third place may be enough for a seat in government.
  • The Malaysian government has adopted conservation laws.
  • Investors are concerned the government may be too slow in bailing out the utility or nationalising it.
  • In recent years, the city government has invested heavily in its poorest neighborhoods that creep up the steep Andean slopes.
  • His prosperity has been bolstered by the government's support program.
British Dictionary definitions for government

government

/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
Derived Forms
governmental (ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl; ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl) adjective
governmentally, adverb
Word Origin and History for government
n.

late 14c., "act of governing or ruling;" 1550s, "system by which a thing is governed" (especially a state), from Old French governement (Modern French gouvernement), from governer (see govern). Replaced Middle English governance. Meaning "governing power" in a given place is from 1702.