government
/ˈɡʌv(ə)nˌm(ə)nt
/ /ˈɡʌvəm(ə)nt /noun
1 [treated as singular or plural] The group of people with the authority to govern a country or state; a particular ministry in office: the government’s economic record successive Labour governments...
- We have seen successive governments and home secretaries promise to be tough on crime.
- He was to form no less than fourteen governments as Prime Minister during the rest of his life.
- They have never had much faith in governments and have always believed in direct action.
Synonyms
administration, executive, regime, authority, powers that be, directorate, council, leadership, management;
cabinet, ministry;
rule, term of office, incumbency
informal top brass
1.1 [mass noun] The system by which a state or community is governed: a democratic form of government...
- The American bureaucracy fits somewhat awkwardly into its democratic system of government.
- It is about whether we will have a system of government and a social system in which we see each other as equals.
- Is a democratic form of government a necessary pre-condition for the existence of human rights?
1.2 [mass noun] The action or manner of controlling or regulating a state, organization, or people: rules for the government of the infirmary...
- She advocates the control of the excesses of capitalism by regulation and government.
- He's talking about class and race and a vision of how government can help regular people.
- In its period in government the party encouraged religious prejudices and backwardness.
Synonyms
rule, running, direction, administration, leadership, leading, control, regulation, guidance, guiding, management, conduct, supervision, superintendence, steering
2 Grammar The relation between a governed and a governing word.It seems that English allots its nominative and oblique forms of pronouns in terms of position, not true government as in German....
- I'm tempted to suggest that government by the nearest conjunct is in fact the rule for vernacular English.
- There's a lot more variation going on with the government of forms of complement verbs than most scholars of English think.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French governement, from governer (see govern).