English

Alternative forms

• governor general

Noun

governor-general ‎(plural governors-general)

1. (Britain) An official appointed by the reigning British monarch to govern a Commonwealth realm as the monarch's representative.
   • 1940, Abani Bhushan Rudra, The Viceroy and Governor-General of India, page xi,

     It is a historical and analytical study of the position of Viceroy and Governor-General in the Indian constitutional system.

   • 1997, New Zealand Law Journal, page 217,

     The vulnerability of the Governor-General should not be overstated.

   • 2003, The Far East and Australasia 2003, Europa Publications, page 122,

     The legislative power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in a Federal Parliament, consisting of HM the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), a Senate, and a House of Representatives.

2. An official in a similar position in other countries.

   Nikolai Bobrikov served as governor-general of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1898 until his untimely death in 1904.

   • 1901, Puerto Rico Governor, Annual Report, page 311,

     […] the proper warrants thereon shall be issued by the auditor and countersigned by the governor-general.

   • 1996, Greg Bankoff, Crime, Society, and the State in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines, page 105,

     A real acuerdo (decision reached by a full session of the high court presided over by the governor-general) gradually came to have the force of law in the form of administrative ordinances embracing a wide range of subjects.

   • 2007, Taiwan under Japanese Rule, 1895—1945, Murray A. Rubinstein (editor), Taiwan: A New History, page 222,

     In the meantime the Taiwan governors-general were gradually brought under closer supervision of the home government in Tokyo.

Synonyms

• (abbreviation): GG, G-G, G.G. , G.-G. , G. G.

Translations

See also

• Lord-Lieutenant
• viceroy