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dominion - 6 dictionary results

do⋅min⋅ion

[duh-min-yuhn]
–noun
1. the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority.
2. rule; control; domination.
3. a territory, usually of considerable size, in which a single rulership holds sway.
4. lands or domains subject to sovereignty or control.
5. Government. a territory constituting a self-governing commonwealth and being one of a number of such territories united in a community of nations, or empire: formerly applied to self-governing divisions of the British Empire, as Canada and New Zealand.
6. dominions, Theology. domination (def. 3).

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < MF < ML *dominiōn- (s. of *dominiō) lordship, equiv. to L domin(ium) dominium + -iōn- -ion
do·min·ion   (də-mĭn'yən)   
n.  
  1. Control or the exercise of control; sovereignty: "The devil . . . has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion" (Jonathan Edwards).
  2. A territory or sphere of influence or control; a realm.
  3. often Dominion Abbr. Dom. One of the self-governing nations within the British Commonwealth.
  4. dominions Christianity See domination.

[Middle English dominioun, from Old French dominion, from Medieval Latin dominiō, dominiōn-, from Latin dominium, property, from dominus, lord; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]

Dominion

Do*min"ion\, n. [LL. dominio, equiv. to L. dominium. See Domain, Dungeon.]

1. Sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and controlling; independent right of possession, use, and control; sovereignty; supremacy.

I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. --Dan. iv. 34.

To choose between dominion or slavery. --Jowett (Thucyd. ).

2. Superior prominence; predominance; ascendency.

Objects placed foremost ought . . . have dominion over things confused and transient. --Dryden.

3. That which is governed; territory over which authority is exercised; the tract, district, or county, considered as subject; as, the dominions of a king. Also used figuratively; as, the dominion of the passions.

4. pl. A supposed high order of angels; dominations. See Domination, 3. --Milton.

By him were all things created . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. --Col. i. 16.

Syn: Sovereignty; control; rule; authority; jurisdiction; government; territory; district; region.
Language Translation for : dominion
Spanish: dominio,
German: die Herrschaft,
Japanese: 統治

dominion 
c.1430, from M.Fr. dominion, from M.L. dominionem (nom. dominio), from L. dominionem "ownership" (see domination). British sovereign colonies often were called dominions, hence the Dominion of Canada, the formal title after the 1867 union, and Old Dominion, the popular name for the U.S. state of Virginia, first recorded 1778.

Main Entry: do·min·ion
Pronunciation: d&-'min-y&n
Function: noun
1 a : supreme authority : SOVEREIGNTY b : a territory over which such authority is exercised c often cap : a self-governing nation (as Canada) of the Commonwealth other than the United Kingdom that acknowledges the British monarch as the head of state
2 : the power (as authority) or right (as ownership) to use or dispose of property; specifically : absolute or exclusive use, control, ownership, or possession of property dominion and control —W. M. McGovern, Junior et al.> dominion over the vehicle>

dominion

the status, prior to 1939, of each of the British Commonwealth countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Eire, and Newfoundland. Although there was no formal definition of dominion status, a pronouncement by the Imperial Conference of 1926 described Great Britain and the dominions as "autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations."

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