Category:Governor

Gov"ern*or, n. Etym: [OE. governor, governour, OF. governeor, F. gouverneur, fr. L. gubernator steersman, ruler, governor. See Govern.]

1. One who governs; especially, one who is invested with the supreme executive authority in a State; a chief ruler or magistrate; as, the governor of Pennsylvania. "The governor of the town." Shak.

2. One who has the care or guardianship of a young man; a tutor; a guardian.

3. (Naut.)

Defn: A pilot; a steersman. [R.]

4. (Mach.)

Defn: A contrivance applied to steam engines, water wheels, and other machinery, to maintain nearly uniform speed when the resistances and motive force are variable.

Note: The illustration shows a form of governor commonly used for steam engines, in which a heavy sleeve (a) sliding on a rapidly revolving spindle (b), driven by the engine, is raised or lowered, when the speed varies, by the changing centrifugal force of two balls (c c) to which it is connected by links (d d), the balls being attached to arms (e e) which are jointed to the top of the spindle. The sleeve is connected with the throttle valve or cut-off through a lever (f), and its motion produces a greater supply of steam when the engine runs too slowly and a less supply when too fast. Governor cut- off (Steam Engine), a variable cut-off gear in which the governor acts in such a way as to cause the steam to be cut off from entering the cylinder at points of the stroke dependent upon the engine's speed. -- Hydraulic governor (Mach.), a governor which is operated by the action of a liquid in flowing; a cataract.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Governor - (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chronicles 28:7; compare 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:11; Jeremiah 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chronicles 12:27), keeper of the sacred treasury (1 Chronicles 26:24), captain of the army (1 Chronicles 13:1), the king (1 Samuel 9:16), the Messiah (Daniel 9:25). (2.) Heb. nasi, raised; exalted. Used to denote the chiefs of families (Numbers 3:24, Numbers 3:30, Numbers 3:32, Numbers 3:35); also of tribes (Numbers 2:3; Numbers 7:2; Numbers 3:32). These dignities appear to have been elective, not hereditary. (3.) Heb. pakid, an officer or magistrate. It is used of the delegate of the high priest (2 Chronicles 24:11), the Levites (Nehemiah 11:22), a military commander (2 Kings 25:19), Joseph's officers in Egypt (Genesis 41:34). (4.) Heb. shallit, one who has power, who rules (Genesis 42:6; Ezra 4:20; Ecclesiastes 8:8; Daniel 2:15; Daniel 5:29). (5.) Heb. aluph, literally one put over a thousand, i.e., a clan or a subdivision of a tribe. Used of the "dukes" of Edom (Genesis 36), and of the Jewish chiefs (Zechariah 9:7). (6.) Heb. moshel, one who rules, holds dominion. Used of many classes of rulers (Genesis 3:16; Genesis 24:2; Genesis 45:8; Psalms 105:20); of the Messiah (Micah 5:2); of God (1 Chronicles 29:12; Psalms 103:19). (7.) Heb. sar, a ruler or chief; a word of very general use. It is used of the chief baker of Pharaoh (Genesis 40:16); of the chief butler (Genesis 40:2, etc. See also Genesis 47:6; Exodus 1:11; Daniel 1:7; Judges 10:18; 1 Kings 22:26; 1 Kings 20:15; 2 Kings 1:9; 2 Samuel 24:2). It is used also of angels, guardian angels (Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:20, Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1; Daniel 10:13; Daniel 8:25). (8.) Pehah, whence pasha, i.e., friend of the king; adjutant; governor of a province (2 Kings 18:24; Isaiah 36:9; Jeremiah 51:57; Ezekiel 23:6, Ezekiel 23:23; Daniel 3:2; Esther 3:12), or a perfect (Nehemiah 3:7; Nehemiah 5:14; Ezra 5:3; Haggai 1:1). This is a foreign word, Assyrian, which was early adopted into the Hebrew idiom (1 Kings 10:15). (9.) The Chaldean word segan is applied to the governors of the Babylonian satrapies (Daniel 3:2, Daniel 3:27; Daniel 6:7); the prefects over the Magi (Daniel 2:48). The corresponding Hebrew word segan is used of provincial rulers (Jeremiah 51:23, Jeremiah 51:28, Jeremiah 51:57); also of chiefs and rulers of the people of Jerusalem (Ezra 9:2; Nehemiah 2:16; Nehemiah 4:14, Nehemiah 4:19; Nehemiah 5:7, Nehemiah 5:17; Nehemiah 7:5; Nehemiah 12:40). In the New Testament there are also different Greek words rendered thus. (1.) Meaning an ethnarch (2 Corinthians 11:32), which was an office distinct from military command, with considerable latitude of application. (2.) The Procurator of Judea under the Romans (Matthew 27:2). (Compare Luke 2:2, where the verb from which the Greek word so rendered is derived is used.) (3.) Steward (Galatians 4:2). (4.) Governor of the feast (John 2:9), who appears here to have been merely an intimate friend of the bridegroom, and to have presided at the marriage banquet in his stead. (5.) A director, i.e., helmsman; Lat. gubernator, (James 3:4).