protectorate

[pruh-tek-ter-it]

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).

protectorate

/ 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

protectorate

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of protectorate¹

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

Example Sentences

The French-speaking part of the former German protectorate, carved up between France and Britain after World War I, gained independence in 1960, joined a year later by British Cameroon.

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In the winter of 1956, The Times correspondent David Holden arrived on the island of Bahrain, then still a British protectorate.

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“We are neither a protectorate nor a colony of any foreign nation.”

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But they are believed to have been intentionally introduced in East Africa around 1890s in a bid to tackle a mounting waste problem on the Zanzibar archipelago, then a British protectorate.

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In Africa, French and British troops invaded the German protectorate of Togoland, while German forces attacked the British colony of South Africa.

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Related Words

• outpost 
• province 
• territory