noun

• 1mass noun Sovereignty or control.

  ‘man's attempt to establish dominion over nature’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Humans can labour with their hands and brains, can plan and develop productive techniques, and have amassed centuries of culture and knowledge that have enabled them to control and hold dominion over the rest of nature.’
  • ‘It identifies the restoration of dominion over the powers in the new humanity.’
  • ‘In truth they are animated by nothing but their own lust for power and their desire for dominion over others.’
  • ‘The cells reduced all other species to near elimination, and established dominion over the corporeal plane of the entity.’
  • ‘All activities by which we shape and maintain our world, in all of its many complexities, also are an expression of the power of dominion over the world.’
  • ‘Such dominion, already established with the water mill and other mechanisations, became part of the perspective of the new intellectuals.’
  • ‘To further empower corporate dominion over nation-states, it gives private corporations and investors ‘legal standing’ to sue sovereign governments.’
  • ‘From public schools to elementary schools, the history of the empire was still little taught, while for most young people Empire Day meant an extra holiday rather than a commitment to dominion over palm and pine.’
  • ‘I was filled with fantasies of my new life, a life of travel, financial laissez-faire, and total dominion over my own space.’
  • ‘Expectations that wild animals be seen and not heard, that they not get too close, reveal that we still believe we hold dominion over animals and nature.’
  • ‘Traditions teach us that we should have dominion over nature, and not be a part of nature.’
  • ‘By the time Orwell returned to England in 1927 he had a hatred not just of colonialism, but of ‘every form of man's dominion over man’.’
  • ‘That is when the state takes dominion over the highways, treating them as their own.’
  • ‘But of course, not everything in the garden is lovely, and there are times when nature's dominion over the humble gardener can be infuriating.’
  • ‘There's no sign that any monarch would have recognised the concept, given that throughout history they'd a habit of claiming dominion over many nations.’
  • ‘We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees.’
  • ‘To consider work and the worker in the light of humanity's dominion over the earth goes to the very heart of the ethical and social question.’
  • ‘The revisionists' dominion over the domestic side of Cold War history has been even more total.’
  • ‘You grit your teeth in pride as the machine roars to terrible life, proclaiming your dominion over all who dare to get in your way.’
  • ‘Those who advocate corporate dominion over broadband services dismiss the notion that consumer choice will be curtailed.’

  Synonyms

  supremacy, ascendancy, dominance, domination, superiority, predominance, pre-eminence, primacy, hegemony, authority, mastery, control, command, direction, power, sway, rule, government, jurisdiction, sovereignty, suzerainty, lordship, overlordship

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1
     another term for dominium
     ‘The conclusion which he arrives at flows from his application of the concept of adverse dominion, and that by dint of adverse dominion, the claimants obtained the right to all of the resources.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Even more important, however, was the very act of possession: ownership demonstrated dominion.’
     • ‘In the end neither feudal loyalties, the absolute dominion of property ownership, nor even romance is vindicated.’

• 2usually dominionsThe territory of a sovereign or government.

  ‘the Angevin dominions’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Just as oil and water do not mix, neither do art and life: They are separate and sovereign dominions that coexist without mixing, each with its own idiosyncrasies, values, and morality.’
  • ‘The union leadership has bolstered this tactic by placing control of their respective territorial dominions ahead of the welfare of the union membership.’
  • ‘America, he noted, has ‘achieved a degree of power in the contemporary world community which dwarfs the dominions of the empires of the past’.’
  • ‘To these were added a number of European kingdoms and the Spanish dominions in the Americas when Charles was sixteen, and by the age of nineteen he had added the Hapsburg Empire to his possessions.’
  • ‘His dominions included all the lands from the Baltic to the country beyond the Carpathians, and from the River Oder to the provinces beyond the Vistula.’
  • ‘So the imperialists had to wait until 1932, when food import tariffs were introduced generally again, and a series of bilateral agreements negotiated with the dominions and colonies to favour them.’
  • ‘Well then, this is the king's command, that you leave the kingdom and all his other dominions with everything belonging to you, for from this day there can be no peace between him and you or any of your people because you have broken the peace.’
  • ‘The ‘specifically asked for it’ clause was necessary because in some instances the dominions did not have the full legal structure of independent nations.’
  • ‘Subsequently, the Spanish empire and its Italian dominions formed the dominant pole of both political theory and political practice in the peninsula.’
  • ‘Essentially, this involved the welding into a composite monarchy of those territories ruled by medieval kings as ‘parcels’ or dominions of the English crown.’
  • ‘There are reasons to defend a poor people, to revolt against an evil government, seize dominions, disagreements, holding land, invasion, self-defense, and so on and so forth.’
  • ‘In many respects the government has allowed the northern sultanates to apply their own laws in their dominions, and in return the leaders of these ministates lend their support to national governmental structures.’
  • ‘An energetic ruler, he dispatched naval expeditions to Sri Lanka and presided over the military and mercantile expansion of the Pallava dominions.’
  • ‘But they are also fully aware that all the powers and dominions of the earth are arrayed against them and regularly torment them.’
  • ‘Indeed in 1892, when it was necessary to appoint a new Poet Laureate, Queen Victoria is reported to have said to Gladstone: ‘I am told that Mr Swinburne is the best poet in my dominions.’’
  • ‘He has invaded the dominions of winter and threaded the tangled equatorial jungles of the Amazon.’
  • ‘Acceptance - learning to live within the dominions of your entire person - is the ultimate goal.’
  • ‘All states and dominions which hold or have held sway over mankind are either republics or monarchies.’
  • ‘They have extended their dominions, played with the life and property of their fellow beings, extracted wealth through taxes and tithes from some and bestowed their bounties on others.’
  • ‘These mass marketing dominions have attitudes struck with such unbelievable good cheer and personalities so beaming they outshine the Northern lights.’

  Synonyms

  dependency, colony, protectorate, territory, province, outpost, satellite, satellite state

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  1. 2.1Dominionhistorical Each of the self-governing territories of the British Commonwealth.
     ‘Great Britain, together with her Dominions and Colonies’
     More example sentences

     • ‘In 1907, New Zealand was made a Dominion of Great Britain.’
     • ‘The British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada by 1867.’
     • ‘Self-governing dominions in the British Empire - such as Canada and after 1947 India - also had one vote each.’
     • ‘For half a century the Queen has graced the throne of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and her other dominions as well as performing her duties throughout the Commonwealth, to which she is so devoted.’
     • ‘War itself brought changes as the status of self-governing dominions moved toward de facto independence.’

• 3dominions

  another term for domination (sense 2)

  More example sentences

  • ‘From top to bottom, the celestial hierarchy includes seraphim, cherubim, thrones; dominions, virtues, powers; principalities, archangels, and angels.’