government
gov·ern·ment/ˈɡʌv.ɚ(n).mənt/noun
government is spelled G-O-V-E-R-N-M-E-N-T, 3 syllables: gov·ern·ment. The wrong spelling people search most is goverment: about 1,430 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Government is a noun meaning “The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to control a country, land area, people or organization”. The plural of government is governments.
How many letters and syllables are in government?
| Letters | 10: G-O-V-E-R-N-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: gov·ern·ment |
| In writing | 372 times per million words; the 242nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 6; the most searched, goverment, about 1,430 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell government?
Government is spelled G-O-V-E-R-N-M-E-N-T. 6 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is government?
Government appears 372 times per million words in written English, the 242nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce government?
- US /ˈɡʌv.ɚ(n).mənt/
- UK /ˈɡʌv.ə.mənt/
- UK /ˈɡʌv.ən.mənt/
Government has 3 syllables, split gov·ern·ment in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-government.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Zazollo-government.wav, En-uk-government.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of government
- governments plural
- gahmen
- gomen
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does government mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to control a country, land area, people or organization.
British government has historically centred exclusively on London.
- 2
The relationship between a word and its dependents.
- 3
The state and its administration viewed as the ruling political power.
Near-synonyms: state, administration
- 4
The management or control of a system.
- 5
The tenure of a head of government; the ministry or administration led by a specified individual.
The Sunak government announced plans to stem the flow of migrants coming into Great Britain.
- 6
In a parliamentary system, the political party or coalition in power; its condition of being in power.
- 7
The team tasked with presenting and speaking in favour of a resolution, as opposed to the opposition.
- 8
A guberniya.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate government?
Wiktionary records 6 abbreviations of government: Gov't, gov, gov't, govmnt, govt, gvt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Government in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gouvernement , rection |
| German | Regierung , Rektion |
| Portuguese | governo , regência , controle |
| Spanish | gobierno , rección |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does government come from?
From Middle English governement, from Old French governement (modern French gouvernement), from governer (see govern) + -ment. Morphologically govern + -ment. Displaced native Old English gerec, leodweard, ræden, rǣding and ealdordōm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).