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Govern vs Oversee - What's the difference?

govern | oversee |

As verbs the difference between govern and oversee

is that govern is to make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in while oversee is to survey, look at something in a wide angle.

govern

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.
  • To control the actions or behavior of; to keep under control; to restrain.
  • Govern yourselves like civilized people.
    a student who could not govern his impulses.
  • To exercise a deciding or determining influence on.
  • Chance usually governs the outcome of the game.
  • To control the speed, flow etc. of; to regulate.
  • a valve that governs fuel intake.
  • To exercise political authority; to run a government.
  • To have or exercise a determining influence.
  • To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.
  • oversee

    English

    Verb

    (transitive)
  • (literally) To survey, look at something in a wide angle.
  • (figuratively) To supervise, guide, review or direct the actions of a person or group.
  • It is congress's duty to oversee the spending of federal funds.
  • To inspect, examine
  • Gamekeepers oversee a hunting ground to see to the wildlife's welfare and look for poachers.
  • (obsolete) To fail to see; to overlook, ignore.
  • * , II.ix:
  • Thereat the Elfe did blush in priuitee, / And turnd his face away; but she the same / Dissembled faire, and faynd to ouersee .
  • To observe secretly or unintentionally.
  • Derived terms

    * overseer * oversight

    See also

    * overlook * overwatch