protectorate

American  

[pruh-tek-ter-it] / prəˈtɛk tər ɪt /

noun

1. the relation of a strong state toward a weaker state or territory that it protects and partly controls.

2. a state or territory so protected.

3. the office or position, or the term of office, of a protector.

4. the government of a protector.

5. (initial capital letter) the period (1653–59) during which Oliver and Richard Cromwell held the title of Lord Protector, sometimes extended to include the period of the restoration of the Rump Parliament (1659–60).

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protectorate British  

/ prəˈtɛktərɪt /

noun

1. 1. a territory largely controlled by but not annexed to a stronger state

   2. the relation of a protecting state to its protected territory

2. the office or period of office of a protector

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protectorate Cultural  

1. A relationship between a strong sovereign nation and a weak nation or area not recognized as a nation. Once the strong nation has established a protectorate over a weak nation, it can control the latter's affairs.

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Etymology

Origin of protectorate

First recorded in 1685–95; protector + -ate ³

Example Sentences

“By the time the Scramble for Africa was over,” Martin Meredith tells us, the vagaries of geopolitical geometry had amalgamated “some 10,000 African polities . . . into forty European colonies and protectorates.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Britain “effectively reduced Iran to the status of a British protectorate,” according to Stephen Kinzer in All the Shah’s Men External link: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.

From Barron's

Britain “effectively reduced Iran to the status of a British protectorate,” according to Stephen Kinzer in All the Shah’s Men External link: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.

From Barron's

No arguments there; but there are certainly a few to be had with Mr. Dalrymple’s fourth so-called partition, that of Princely India—the nominally independent protectorates that constituted almost a third of the Indian empire.

From The Wall Street Journal

Britain's former protectorate was named the "Pearl of Africa" in the early 20th century by the future British prime minister Winston Churchill.

From Barron's

Related Words

• outpost
• province
• territory