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• home rule
  home rule

  noun

  self-government in local matters by a city, province, state, colony, or the like.
• Home Rule
  Home Rule

  noun

  self-government for Ireland: the goal of the Irish Nationalists from about 1870 to 1920

home rule

American  

noun

1. self-government in local matters by a city, province, state, colony, or the like.

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home rule ¹ British  

noun

1. self-government, esp in domestic affairs

2. government the partial autonomy of cities and (in some states) counties, under which they manage their own affairs, with their own charters, etc, within the limits set by the state constitution and laws

3. the partial autonomy sometimes granted to a national minority or a colony

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Home Rule ² British  

noun

1. self-government for Ireland: the goal of the Irish Nationalists from about 1870 to 1920

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Etymology

Origin of home rule

First recorded in 1855–60

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

home rule Home Rule

Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 and did not gain home rule until 1979.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

But Denmark granted it home rule in 1979, and its 57,000 inhabitants retain the right to vote for independence.

From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026

Bonar Law was both a true believer in the Ulster cause and a shrewd political operator, who correctly perceived that home rule could be used to bring down Asquith and the Liberals.

From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2024

In 1979, the island was granted home rule, and 30 years later, Greenland became a self-governing entity.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024

The next resolution passed by the convention was, "that we earnestly hope, we shall soon congratulate our fellow-citizens of Irish birth upon the peaceful recovery of home rule in Ireland."

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 8 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Political by Robert Green Ingersoll

The aspiring writer was not as active in the Home Rule campaign, which sought to restore self-government to Ireland, as some of his friends from student years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

This is already happening in Washington, where the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gave the city limited self-government, allows Congress oversight.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026

Even if they weren’t, though, the Home Rule Act would not authorize them.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025

Mayor Karen Bass, is invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act that places the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2025

That reality since Sir Henry Fowler’s amendment in 1894 practically implies Home Rule for every parish in rural England.

From Social Transformations of the Victorian Age A Survey of Court and Country by T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet) Escott

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Related Words

• self-determination
• self-rule

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