Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A relationship of protection and partial control assumed by a superior power over a dependent country or region.
  • noun The protected country or region.
  • noun The government, office, or term of a protector.
  • noun The government of England under Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, ruling as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Government by a protector; also, the rank or position of a protector, or the period of his rule: specifically [capitalized] used with reference to the period in English history during which Oliver and Richard Cromwell held the title of Lord Protector.
  • noun A relation assumed by a strong nation toward a weak one, whereby the former protects the latter from hostile invasion or dictation, and interferes more or less in its domestic concerns.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Government by a protector; -- applied especially to the government of England by Oliver Cromwell.
  • noun The authority assumed by a superior power over an inferior or a dependent one, whereby the former protects the latter from invasion and shares in the management of its affairs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Government by a protector; -- applied especially to the government of England by Oliver Cromwell.
  • noun The authority assumed by a superior power over an inferior or a dependent one, whereby the former protects the latter from invasion and shares in the management of its affairs.
  • noun An autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • 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

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word protectorate.

Examples

  • In East Timor, he set up a highly effective “transitional administration”—yet another euphemism for protectorate—that shepherded the troubled region through exemplary elections to independence and a seat of its own in the UN for the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, the first newborn state of the twenty-first century.

    The Great Experiment Strobe Talbott 2008

  • But above all, he said, We’re not making Afghanistan a long-term protectorate.

    Obama’s Wars Bob Woodward 2010

  • He chafed against the implication of coercion in the word imperator: “We could more truly have been titled a protectorate than an empire of the world.”

    The Great Experiment Strobe Talbott 2008

  • Bangladesh was part of India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was controlled by India which was a part of the British Commonwealth with a British Minister (called a protectorate).

    Think Progress » Rice: After 9-11 “We Could Decide the Proximate Cause Was Al Qaeda” 2005

  • But the most important engineering work undertaken in the protectorate was the construction of a railway from Mombasa to Victoria Nyanza, for which a preliminary survey was executed in 1892, and on which work was begun in

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" Various

  • While Spanish control lasted, a certain amount of squabbling and fighting went on between the two nations; but when the questions arose between England and the United States, the latter refused to acquiesce in the so-called protectorate, which rested, in her opinion, upon no sufficient legal ground as against the prior right of Spain, that was held to have passed to Nicaragua when the latter achieved its independence.

    The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future 1877

  • Tellingly, they couldn't find a panelist who thought establishing a protectorate was a good idea.

    Reason Magazine Ben Sanders 2010

  • But in most of these past and present instances, the so called protectorate was receiving much more in financial aid from their respective overseers than the country or state being protected was contributing.

    Louisiana Conservative 2010

  • But within this never-ending protectorate, which is what

    Anarkismo.net 2009

  • Even the old parliamentarians hailed the return of Charles, notwithstanding it was admitted that the protectorate was a vigorous administration; that law and order were enforced; that religious liberty was proclaimed; that the rights of conscience were respected; that literature and science were encouraged; that the morals of the people were purified; that the ordinances of religion were observed; that vice and folly were discouraged; that justice was ably administered; that peace and plenty were enjoyed; that prosperity attended the English arms abroad; and that the nation was as much respected abroad as it was prosperous at home.

    A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon For the Use of Schools and Colleges John Lord 1852

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.