government

noun Usage: often attributive Date: 14th century 1. the act or process of governing; specifically authoritative direction or control 2. obsolete moral conduct or behavior ; discretion 3. a. the office, authority, or function of governing b. obsolete the term during which a governing official holds office 4. the continuous exercise of authority over and the performance of functions for a political unit ; rule 5. a. the organization, machinery, or agency through which a political unit exercises authority and performs functions and which is usually classified according to the distribution of power within it b. the complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which the function of governing is carried out 6. the body of persons that constitutes the governing authority of a political unit or organization: as a. the officials comprising the governing body of a political unit and constituting the organization as an active agency b. capitalized the executive branch of the United States federal government c. capitalized a small group of persons holding simultaneously the principal political executive offices of a nation or other political unit and being responsible for the direction and supervision of public affairs: (1) such a group in a parliamentary system constituted by the cabinet or by the ministry (2) administration 4b 7. political science • governmental adjective • governmentalize transitive verb • governmentally adverb