governor general
1
6.5
- noun
- Australian
:
gobernador general
- The governor general of Australia represented the Queen at the national day celebrations.
- governor general and viceroy
Examples
-
For 156 years, until July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was ruled by the British Crown through an appointed governor general.
Academic text (1997) -
Johnson presented the manuscript of her poem as a commemorative object to the wife of the governor general before an audience of twenty thousand spectators who attended the festivities, including European Canadian settlers, Six Nations people, New York Iroquois, Ojibway people, and a delegation of Northwest nations.
Academic text (2017) -
And this dance that the Governor general is giving in his honor at the government house tonight.
-
The commission was directly responsible to the governor general, who was himself an appointed rather than an elected official.
Blog text (1) -
Now, remember, you simply must be back early if we're to be ready for the Governor general's ball tonight.
-
The governor general's shock of white hair was like a flag in the center of the crowd.
Fiction book (2002) -
But for this, the Governor General says, the King's consent is indispensable.
-
From 1947 on, its civil structure consisted of a powerful governor-general and a prime minister and cabinet within an assembly that were less influential.
Academic text (2000) -
Pakistan's early foreign policy was centralized around the governor general and the prime minister, who were preoccupied with obtaining diplomatic recognition.
Academic text (2000) -
Lord Curzon, as governor general, expressed a grandiose but widely held vision of India's hegemony in 1909 when he wrote:
Academic text (1997)
Synonyms
16
9.5
A person who rules a land for a king or queen
Surface Forms
Morphology
governor + general
The phrase is partly compositional: combining 'governor' with 'general' conveys the idea of a governor with broad or national authority, so learners who know the constituents would likely infer it denotes a high‑ranking or national governor. However, the specific institutional sense—being the monarch's representative with ceremonial and constitutional duties in Commonwealth countries—is a specialized, culture‑specific role that is not fully predictable from the words alone.
Etymology
Governor general combines governor, a local ruler, and general, meaning wide or overall authority. It originally named a governor with power over a whole area, so today the governor general stands in for the 'monarch' and carries out official and ceremonial duties.