Governmental

How to spell governmental

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce governmental

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does governmental mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the government or to the activity of governing a state.

Governmental in a sentence

• The new governmental policy raised the threshold for income tax.

• Several governmental departments share responsibility for flood defences.

Where does governmental come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base of this word is the verb 'govern', which English took from the Old French governer in the 1200s, meaning 'to rule, direct, or steer'. That French verb descended from the Latin gubernare, 'to steer a ship', which in turn was borrowed from the Greek kybernan, also 'to steer or pilot a vessel'. The image of guiding a ship through water gradually broadened into the idea of guiding a state or its people. To 'govern' English added the noun suffix '-ment' to make 'government', the act or apparatus of ruling, and then the adjective suffix '-al' to produce 'governmental', meaning 'relating to government'. The very same Greek kybernan steered its way into the modern word 'cybernetics', which is why both ultimately share the notion of control; the spelling trap, meanwhile, lives in that quietly pronounced 'n' before '-mental', often dropped in writing as 'govermental'.

How the word is built

• govern (to rule, direct)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix: act or state)
• -al (adjective suffix: relating to)