governor

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The chief executive officer of a first-level administrative division of a country.

   Younger voters are more libertarian in political philosophy than older voters and are credited with the success of libertarian governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota.

2. 2
   noun

   A device which regulates or controls some action of a machine through automatic feedback.

   A governor on the injection pump limits the speed when running idle.

3. 3
   noun

   A member of a decision-making body (such as a committee) for a larger organization or entity (including some public agencies), similar to or equivalent to a board of directors (used especially for banks); a member of the board of governors.

   The seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

4. 4
   noun

   Father.

   "Say 'father.' We never called him papa; and if one of my brothers had addressed him as 'governor,' as boys do now, I really think he'd have him cut off with a shilling."

5. 5
   noun

   Term of address to a man; guv'nor.

   1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London "Oh, right you are, governor, if you say so," accepted Fank […]

6. 6
   noun

   The title for someone who holds the post of governor.

   The Auschwitz Memorial Museum slammed Kyle Langford, Republican candidate for Governor of California, after his antisemitic remarks, calling out his actions as a “profound moral failure.”

7. 7
   noun

   a control that maintains a steady speed in a machine (as by controlling the supply of fuel)

8. 8
   noun

   the head of a state government

Etymology

From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surface analysis, govern + -or. Doublet of gubernator.