Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb govern

4 senses of govern

Sense 1
regulate, regularize, regularise, order, govern -- (bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations; "We cannot regulate the way people dress"; "This town likes to regulate")
       => decide, make up one's mind, determine -- (reach, make, or come to a decision about something; "We finally decided after lengthy deliberations")

Sense 2
govern -- (direct or strongly influence the behavior of; "His belief in God governs his conduct")
       => control, command -- (exercise authoritative control or power over; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces")

Sense 3
govern, rule -- (exercise authority over; as of nations; "Who is governing the country now?")
       => control, command -- (exercise authoritative control or power over; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces")

Sense 4
govern -- (require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood; "most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German")
       => necessitate, ask, postulate, need, require, take, involve, call for, demand -- (require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent")