Guv

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An informal or colloquial term for a governor, official in authority, or person of high rank
2. A casual way of referring to someone in a position of leadership, authority, or prominent social standing
3. An unofficial name for a governor or other person holding an important administrative or governing position

Etymology: "Guv" is a clipped, phonetic respelling of "gov," itself a shortening of "governor." Dropping everything after the first syllable of "governor" and writing what remains the way it sounds gives a word that is typically spoken rather than written, and it is most familiar as a casual term of address for a superior, most famously in British English for a prison governor or a boss. Because "guv" is a spoken clipping rather than a separate word with its own history, its story is really the story of "governor," which came into English from Anglo-Norman "governour," borrowed from Latin "gubernator," meaning "steersman" or "pilot." The image of steering a ship sits behind a word now used for people in charge of towns, colonies, and institutions, and the clipped forms show how a formal title became an informal nickname.

Synonyms: governor, boss, chief