quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- govern
- govern: [13] Politicians’ clichés about ‘steering the ship of state’ are no new thing; for the distant ancestor of English govern is the Greek verb kubernan ‘steer a ship’ (source also of English cybernetics). It developed the metaphorical sense ‘guide, rule’, and it was this that passed with it via Latin gubernāre and Old French governer into English. The Latin form is preserved in gubernatorial ‘of a governor’ [18].
=> cybernetics, gubernatorial - govern (v.)
- late 13c., "to rule with authority," from Old French governer "steer, be at the helm of; govern, rule, command, direct" (11c., Modern French gouverner), from Latin gubernare "to direct, rule, guide, govern" (source also of Spanish gobernar, Italian governare), originally "to steer, to pilot," a nautical borrowing from Greek kybernan "to steer or pilot a ship, direct as a pilot," figuratively "to guide, govern" (the root of cybernetics). The -k- to -g- sound shift is perhaps via the medium of Etruscan. Intransitive sense from 1590s. Related: Governed; governing.