governor
/ˈɡʌv(ə)nə/ noun
Forms governors gouernour gouvernor gouvernour governer governour guvnah guvnuh guv'nor
- noun (politics) The chief executive officer of a first-level administrative division of a country.
- noun A device which regulates or controls some action of a machine through automatic feedback.
- noun A member of a decision-making body (such as a committee) for a larger organization or entity (including some public agencies), similar to or equivalent to a board of directors (used especially for banks); a member of the board of governors.
- noun (UK, informal, dated) Term of address to a man.
- noun (UK, informal) A superior, especially a boss, an employer, or (law enforcement) a superior police officer.
- noun (informal, archaic) Synonym of father.
- noun (grammar) A constituent of a phrase that governs another.
- noun (dated) One who has the care or guardianship of a young man; a tutor; a guardian.
- noun The title for someone who holds the post of governor.
Synonyms
viceroy proconsul bailiff seneschal intendant tao tai circuit intendant daotai provost gubernator father regulator
Etymology
From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surface analysis, govern + -or. Doublet of gubernator.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun One who has the care or guardianship of a young man; a tutor; a guardian.
Etymology [OE. governor, governour, OF. governeor, F. gouverneur, fr. L. gubernator steersman, ruler, governor. See Govern.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “governor”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details