governed

Verb

govern (third-person singular simple present governs, present participle governing, simple past and past participle governed)

1. (transitive) To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
   • The old king governed the land wisely.
2. (intransitive) To exercise political authority; to run a government.
   • Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of.2025 April 28, Ross Douthat, Nick Adams, “Condition of America”, in New Left Review, number 152, →ISSN, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2025
3. (transitive) To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
   • Govern yourselves like civilized people.
4. (transitive) To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
   • Chance governs the outcome of many card games.
5. (intransitive) To have or exercise a determining influence.
6. (obsolete, transitive) To handle, to manage, to oversee (a matter, an affair, a household, etc.).

See all 12 meanings of govern