self-determination
Americannoun
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determination by oneself or itself, without outside influence.
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freedom to live as one chooses, or to act or decide without consulting another or others.
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the determining by the people of the form their government shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation, especially by people of a territory or former colony.
noun
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the power or ability to make a decision for oneself without influence from outside
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the right of a nation or people to determine its own form of government without influence from outside
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-determination
1670–80; 1915–20 self-determination for def. 3
Explanation
In politics, self-determination is the process of citizens choosing their own government. On a personal level, self-determination is making choices and controlling your own life. Living with self-determination means deciding (or determining) for yourself and exerting some control over the things you do and the choices you make. This is the original sense of the word, first used in the 1680s. As a political concept, self-determination was popularized by President Woodrow Wilson at the end of the 19th century. It's an accepted idea today in international law that all people have a right to self-determination, freely choosing their leaders.
Vocabulary lists containing self-determination
Political Geography - Middle School
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Political Geography - High School
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World War I
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What they did share was a brutal colonial past, and a longing to achieve economic self-determination.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
“We were fighting not only for sewer, potholes and police protection but for self-determination and empowerment of our community,” Martinez de Vara wrote in a firsthand account of the incorporation campaign.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
Her formidable, untitled 2026 sphinx regally commands its space among ancient Egyptian and Roman sculpture, a marvel of the cross-temporal and cross-spatial, spiked with specific references to Black self-determination.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
“There was a feeling of self-determination due to free trade that made people’s lives easier.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
It was a movement in which African Americans seized upon their first chances for group expression and self-determination.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
