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government
Old French govener; Latin gubernare, to steer a ship, to rule. Whence "ship of state." 1. The controlling power in society. The aggregate of authorities which rule a society. Francis Lieber; . That form of fundamental rules by which the members of a body politic regulate their social action, and the administration of public affairs, according to established constitutions, laws, and usages. Winspear v. Township of Holman, . 2. The state, the commonwealth, the people; as, in criminal practice. 3. In a commercial sense "governments" signifies securities of government, State or United States. The object of government is to secure to the governed the right to pursue their own happiness; that is, the happiness of the individuals who compose the mass. In this consists civil liberty.
Source : William C. Anderson, A Dictionary of Law (1893)
Language : English