From Greek 'kubernân' (to pilot a ship), via Latin — politics as navigation, the same root giving us 'cybernetics.'
To conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a state, organization, or people with authority; to rule.
From Old French 'governer' (to govern, to steer, to direct), from Latin 'gubernāre' (to steer a ship, to direct, to govern), from Greek 'kubernân' (to steer, to pilot a ship), possibly from a pre-Greek Mediterranean substrate language. Governing was originally steering a ship -- piloting a vessel through uncertain waters. The metaphor of the state as a ship and the ruler as its helmsman is one
'Govern' and 'cybernetics' come from the same Greek word: 'kubernân' (to steer a ship). Norbert Wiener coined 'cybernetics' in 1948 from Greek 'kubernētēs' (helmsman, pilot) to name the science of control and communication systems. So 'cyberspace,' 'cybersecurity,' and 'government' are all etymological siblings -- the art of steering, applied