GOVERNOR


Meaning of GOVERNOR in English

R ˈgəv(ə)nər also -vərnər, - R -v(ə)nə(r noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English governour, from Middle French governeor, from Latin gubernator steersman, from gubernatus (past participle of gubernare to steer) + -or — more at govern

1. : one that governs: as

a. : one that exercises authority especially over an area or group

the kings, princes and governors of the world — Times Literary Supplement

the American people … governors of us all — H.S.Truman

the sun … was the governor of the heavens — S.F.Mason

b. often capitalized , archaic : god

the Deity … which is the supreme governor of all things — Ralph Cudworth

c. : an official elected or appointed to act as ruler, chief executive, or nominal head of a political unit (as a colony, state, or province)

each colony has its own government headed by the governor who represents the crown — W.E.Simnett

the office of governor in the American states — W.S.Sayre

Australian … state governors act on the advice of their ministers — Geoffrey Sawer

d. : commandant

the governor of the besieged fortress

e. : the managing director and usually the principal officer of an institution or organization

is governor of the Bank of France — Harrison Smith

past governor of the local lodge — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union

assistant governor of a large English prison

the governor of an Edinburgh hospital — H.A.Albert

f. : a member of a group of persons that directs or controls an institution or society : director

the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System … consists of seven members — E.W.Kemmerer

the board of governors of the National Press Club — Newsweek

a governor of the University of British Columbia — Current Biography

g. : the chief of an Indian tribe or pueblo

the party executing the order of the … governors of the pueblos — Weekly New Mexican

2. archaic : one that has charge of the education of a young man usually of royal or noble birth

at the age of seven he was … handed over to a governor — Nancy Mitford

3.

a. slang : one looked upon as governing (as a father, guardian, or employer)

my old governor sent me to Eton — Angela Thirkell

b. : mister , sir — usually used in informal address

come and look at 'em, governor — Henry Mayhew

4.

a. : an attachment to a machine (as a gasoline or steam engine) designed to afford automatic control or limitation of speed or power ; especially : such an attachment actuated by the centrifugal force of whirling weights opposed by gravity or by springs

b. : a contrivance giving automatic control (as of pressure or temperature) — called also regulator

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.