dominion

plural dominions

1. countableuncountablePower or the use of power; sovereignty over something; stewardship, supremacy.

   To choose between dominion or slavery.

   1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides Translated into English

   2 more examples

   And at the end of the dayes, I Nebuchad-nezzar lift vp mine eyes vnto heauen, and mine vnderſtanding returned vnto me, and I bleſſed the moſt high, and I praiſed, and honoured him that liueth for euer, whoſe dominion is an euerlaſting dominion, and his kingdome is from generation to generation.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 4:34, column 1

   'Behold! once more I kiss thee, and by that kiss I give to thee dominion over sea and earth, over the peasant in his hovel, over the monarch in his palace halls, and cities crowned with towers, and those who breathe therein.'

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

2. countableuncountablePredominance; ascendancy.

   Objects placed foremost ought […] have dominion over things which are confus'd and transient.

   1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC

3. countablefigurativelysometimesuncountableA kingdom, nation, or other sphere of influence; governed territory.

   the dominions of a king  the dominion of the passions

   2 more examples

   Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!

   1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 137

   But a fait accompli even more spectacular than this awaited the Chinese. For the naval officer Nevelskoi had surveyed the Manchurian coast down to the Korean border and had urged successfully that this, too, as far inland as the Ussuri River, must be included in the Tsar’s dominions. At the southern end, in particular, the town of Haishenwei [translating 海參崴 /海参崴] with its harbour would make a splendid port.

   1967, Henry McAleavy, “The Second Opium War”, in The Modern History of China, Frederick A. Praeger, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 91

4. countableuncountablebiologykingdom
5. countableuncountableChristianityAn order of angel in Christian angelology, ranked above virtues and below thrones.

   For by him were all things created[…], whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Colossians 1:16, column 2

   Synonyms: domination

1. historicalAny of the self-governing nations of the British Commonwealth until 1949.