FromMiddle Englishgoverner,governere,guvernere, fromOld Frenchgouvreneur; equivalent togovern +‎-er.

governer (pluralgoverners)

1. Obsolete form ofgovernor.
   • [1529], [John Frith],A Pistle to the Christen Reader: The Revelation of Antichrist. Antithesis / Wherin Are Compared To Geder Christes Actes and Oure Holye Father the Popes.,[Antwerp]:[Johannes Hoochstraten]:

     And oute of theſe caves and dennes are they called to begoverners and curattes of chirches / when they ſeme to chouſe the beſt.

   • 1553,Eras[mus] Sarcerius, translated byRychard Tauerner,Commõ Places of Scripture Ordrely and after a Compendious Forme of Teaching, Set Forth with No Litle Laboure, […], London: […] Nycolas Hyll for Robert Toye, […], folio xc, verso:

     Fynallye the holye ghoſte maye alſo be ſayde a cauſe of thys lybertye, foꝛaſmuche as he is thegouerner and pꝛeſeruer therof.

   • a.1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e.,Philip Sidney], “[The Second Booke] Chapter 2”, in [Fulke Greville;Matthew Gwinne;John Florio], editors,The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] forWilliam Ponsonbie, published1590,→OCLC,folio 104, verso:

     O wretched mankind (ſaid I then to my ſelfe) in whom witte (which ſhould be thegouerner of his welfare) becomes the traitor to his bleſſednes.

   • 1589,Zacharias Vrsinus, translated byHenry Parry,The Summe of Christian Religion: Delivered by Zacharias Vrsinus in His Lectures vpon the Catechisme, Authorised by the Noble Prince Fredericke throughout His Dominions: […], Oxford, Oxon: […] Ioseph Barnes, […], page748:

     And whẽ alſo he ſaieth,Of many, hereby is cõfirmed, that by the name of thechurch, wherof Chriſt ſpeaketh Mat. 18. is not vnderſtoode the cõmon multitude, but the chiefgoverners of the church.

• guverner

FromLatingubernāre, fromAncient Greekκυβερνάω(kubernáō).

governer

1. toguide; tosteer
2. togovern

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in-er. The forms that would normally end in *-rns, *-rnt are modified torz,rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• Middle French:gouverner
  • French:gouverner
    • → Romanian:guverna
• Norman:gouvèrner
• → Middle English:governen,governe,guverne,gouvern
  • English:govern
  • Scots:govern

• English terms inherited from Middle English
• English terms derived from Middle English
• English terms derived from Old French
• English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English obsolete forms
• English terms with quotations
• Old French terms inherited from Latin
• Old French terms derived from Latin
• Old French terms derived from Ancient Greek
• Old French lemmas
• Old French verbs
• Old French verbs with weak-a preterite
• Old French first group verbs
• Old French verbs ending in -er

• Pages with entries
• Pages with 2 entries