/guv"euhr neuhr, -euh neuhr/ , n.
1. the executive head of a state in the U.S.
2. a person charged with the direction or control of an institution, society, etc.: the governors of a bank; the governor of a prison.
3. Also called governor general . the representative of the crown, as in the Commonwealth of Nations.
4. a ruler or chief magistrate appointed to govern a province, town, fort, or the like.
5. Mach. a device for maintaining uniform speed regardless of changes of load, as by regulating the supply of fuel or working fluid.
6. Brit. Informal.
a. one's father.
b. one's employer.
c. any man of superior rank or status.
[ 1250-1300; ME governour governeor, gouverneur gubernatorem, acc. of gubernator = guberna(re) to steer, GOVERN + -tor -TOR ]
Pronunciation . In GOVERNOR, the process of dissimilation - the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike or for one of them to disappear entirely - commonly results in the loss of the first /r/ of /guv"euhr neuhr/ , producing the pronunciation /guv"euh neuhr/ . This pronunciation is heard even in regions where postvocalic /r/ is not usually dropped. A further loss, of the medial unstressed vowel, results in /guv"neuhr/ . All three pronunciations are standard. See colonel, February, library .