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dominion

 - 5 dictionary results

do⋅min⋅ion

  [duh-min-yuhn]
Use dominion in a Sentence
–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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

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>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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