governance

noun

gov·​er·​nance ˈgə-vər-nən(t)s How to pronounce governance (audio)
plural governances
: the act or process of governing or overseeing the control and direction of something (such as a country or an organization) : government
a centralized system of governance
the challenges of national governance
… the governance of amateur sport in America …P. S. Wood
… three years before he died, [Lionel] Trilling pressed the point that the way a nation thinks determines in the end the quality of its governance.Benjamin DeMott
Enron, and the corporate disasters that followed, forced many companies to get serious about governance.Louis Lavelle
Theirs was the perennial problem of quick-witted subjects under the governance of dull-witted administrators.Declan Kiberd
Michael Dukakis, at the 1988 Democratic convention, said governance was about competence, not ideology. He got it half right: Competence is important to governance, but ideology is critical …U.S. News & World Report

Examples of governance in a Sentence

They have very different approaches to the governance of the city. after World War II, the four Allied nations shared the governance of the territory of postwar Germany under the Allied Control Council
Recent Examples on the Web In wake of the controversies, Cruise hired a veteran Ford and Apple executive to be its safety chief and issued an independent third-party report on its governance and government relations. William Gavin, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 Good communication with members is key to successful governance, and HOAs should use email as much as possible instead of postal mail. Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Mar. 2024 But these ambitious plans to forge a new global governance regime for AI may collide with an unfortunate obstacle: cold reality. Aziz Huq, Foreign Affairs, 11 Mar. 2024 Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a research group focused on data governance and protection, said people living in medical or assisted living facilities were also often vulnerable to these crimes. Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024 The company’s governance has drawn public scrutiny because of its development of ChatGPT, Dall-E, and other services that have kicked off a boom in generative AI technologies over the past couple of years. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 8 Mar. 2024 Over time, however, Ethereum and its governance have become more decentralized. Steven Ehrlich, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 And then there’s a push for better corporate governance. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 4 Mar. 2024 But Albert Wu, an expert on governance in China, believes that role has been eroded by the centralization of power under Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Ken Moritsugu, Quartz, 3 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'governance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see govern

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of governance was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near governance

Cite this Entry

“Governance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governance. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

governance

noun
gov·​er·​nance ˈgəv-ər-nən(t)s How to pronounce governance (audio)
: the exercise of control : government

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