protectorate

Meanings

Plural: protectorates

Noun

• a state or territory partly controlled by (but not a possession of) a stronger state but autonomous in internal affairs; protectorates are established by treaty
• Government by a protector; especially, The Protectorate: government of England, Scotland, and Ireland between 1653 and 1659 under the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth Oliver Cromwell, later his son Richard Cromwell.
• The office or position of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.
• The authority assumed by a state over another state deemed inferior or dependent, whereby the former protects the latter from invasion and shares in the management of its affairs but the protected state retains its nominal sovereignty.
• An autonomous state under protectorate.
• The office or position of protector (sense 5).

Synonyms

associated state, regency