suzerainty

noun

Etymology: From Middle English suserente, from Old French suserenete, equivalent to suzerain + -ty.

1. A relation between states in which a subservient nation has its own government, but is unable to take international action independent of the superior state.

   “under suzerainty to”

   “There were therefore, in the cultivating communities of the German and Scandinavian races, causes at work which were leading to inequality of property in land. There were causes at work which were leading to the establishment of superiorities and suzerainties of one township over another. There were causes at work which tended to place the benefits of an unequal proprietary system and the enjoyment of these suzerainties in the hands of particular families, and consequently of their chiefs for the time being.”

2. A similar relationship between other entities.

   “She was tired of living under suzerainty to her parents.”

3. The status or power of a suzerain.

   “In the N-Town Passion Play I, Lucifer is an implied presenter of the play and an implied controller of its events. He addresses the audience directly and confidentially in an extraordinary 124-line adoxograph which is part social satire and part seriocomic plea for our commitment to his suzerainty […]”