governor
governor (gŭvʹər-nər) noun
Abbr. gov., Gov.
1. A person who governs, especially: a. The chief executive of a state in the United States. b. An official appointed to govern a colony or territory. c. A member of a governing body.
2. The manager or administrative head of an organization, a business, or an institution.
3. A military commandant.
4. Chiefly British. Used as a form of polite address for a man.
5. A feedback device on a machine or an engine that is used to provide automatic control, as of speed, pressure, or temperature.
Word History: The American Revolution did away with much that was British, but it neglected to discard an important British political term. The word governor certainly seems to denote a very American office, and England has no corresponding official with that title for its counties. Nonetheless, governor has had a long history in English with reference to political rulers. In Middle English governour, the ancestor of governor, meant both "a sovereign ruler" and "a subordinate or substitute ruler." In the later sense it was a natural term to use for heads of the British colonies in North America as well as elsewhere. During our colonial period royal governors were often unpopular, yet the word was not dropped after the Revolutionary War and in fact was chosen to designate the executive head of a state when the United States of America was created.