rulershipn.
/ˈruːləʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈrulərˌʃɪp/ 1.
a. The position, office, or quality of a ruler; sovereignty, rule.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > position or function of
regimenta1393
rectorshipa1616
government1617
rulership1625
ruleship1654
ealdormanry1870
governorate1939
1625 S. Purchas tr. A. de Herrera Descr. W. Indies in Pilgrimes III. v. i. 912 In matters of Court the President onely hath the Gouernment, and assigneth the Indians, prouideth the Rulerships [Sp. los corregimentos], and other Offices temporall.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Drossaertschap, rulership, Presidencie over a Country, Jurisdiction, or Shriefship.
1717 Suppl. Hist. Crown-Inn 39 They will not be promoted to rulerships in the college.
1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home I. 28 They were..wholly destitute of..law or rulership of any description.
1889 H. Drummond Trop. Afr. (ed. 2) iv. 74 One of their own number was elevated to the rulership.
1926 Boys' Mag. 16 Oct. 30/1 Crazy, planning diabolical schemes of world rulership, Swarfsmidt travelled, aboard his starship, to Ikon, where he obtained supreme power.
1975 F. Heer Charlemagne & his World xv. 225 The Emperor dreamed that a man came to him with a present from God, a sword symbolising rulership.
1993 I. Okpewho Tides (1994) 104 Traditional rulership—what use was it in our present circumstances?
b. With possessive or of. The reign or rule of a particular person.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > sole rule > [noun] > rule or reign
reigna1393
region?a1400
renkea1450
sceptredom1599
rulership1706
1706 R. Brocklesby Explic. Gospel-theism i. iv. 48/1 They are not sparing in setting forth the Pagan-like Mundane Magistracy of the deceas'd Saints and Martyrs (their Rulership in the Affairs of Men).
1792 J. Craik Songs & Poems 84 He sure design'd His rulership to keep.
1848 E. L. Linton Amymone II. i. 9 The gods avert the evil day when Athens shall exchange the rulership of Pericles for such as these!
1890 T. De W. Talmage From Manger to Throne 116 The disputes and bloody events which had distinguished the rulership of Herod.
1906 H. A. White Making of S. Carolina i. vii. 25 In 1697, during the rulership of Governor Blake, the Huguenots were given full rights as citizens.
1961 Jewish Q. Rev. 52 20 Simon during his rulership concluded a political alliance with the Romans.
2001 W. A. Elwell & P. W. Comfort Tyndale Bible Dict. 1251/1 Living under the rulership of the pharaoh as a peasant implied oppression.
2. A region under the control of a ruler; a province.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > [noun] > area over which jurisdiction exercised
land and ledeOE
regimenta1393
franchisea1400
right?a1400
obeisance1419
liberty?1435
English palec1453
palec1453
English palea1549
judgement1617
command1621
commandment1632
bourne1818
Crown land1849
rulership1882
overseas territory1900
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > an administrative division of territory > [noun] > large or culturally distinct division
provincea1382
government1554
region1555
rulership1882
1882 J. Samuelson Roumania Past & Present ii. xi. 163 These are only a few of the small rulerships, which are every day multiplied as the State records of the neighbouring countries are being more and more carefully investigated.
1893 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 370 There were some minor rulerships over which China exercised a disputable jurisdiction.
1919 E. Jenks State & Nation iii. xvii. 271 The gradual coalescence of petty rulerships into the Heptarchic Kingdoms.
1973 D. A. Low Lion Rampant iii. 87 The fortunes of one traditional rulership, or one set of traditional rulerships, when subjected to British empire-builders ran in one direction, while others ran in another.
2001 L. Sabaratnam Ethnic Attachments in Sri Lanka v. 125 Numerous independent rulerships had been absorbed into large territories under a sovereign monarch.
3. A government or other ruling power.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > collectively
rulership1883
1883 A. Edersheim Life Jesus I. iii. vi. 377 Jesus purging the Temple in view of a hostile rulership was the full realisation of that picture.
1910 J. P. Kelly Prince Izon xxvii. 275 Here was the real nobility of the Red City's empire; here the real rulership, this powerful gray band of the priesthood.
1964 Listener 11 June 945/2 The emergence of a professional Civil Service alongside an increasingly amateur political rulership.
1993 E. Friedman in W. Tu China in Transformation (1996) 14 In the countryside, villagers condemn a corrupt rulership imposing arbitrary taxes.
4. Astrology. Influence or dominance of a planet (or other celestial object) over a person, period, etc. Cf. ruler n.1 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > as influence on mankind > [noun] > influence
influencec1374
influinga1618
influx1626
influxiona1641
influency1651
rulership1904
1904 A. Leo & H. S. Green Horoscope in Detail viii. 72 Any weakness or bad aspect tends to cause loss, restraint, restriction, treachery, or secret enmity, also according to the nature of the planet and its rulership and aspects.
1951 M. E. Hone Mod. Text-bk. Astrol. iv. 68 Just as this rulership brought energy and initiatory force to the Arien, it brings it to the Scorpian.
1998 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 11 Oct. 9 e Astrology assigns animals, like everything else, to the symbolic rulership of particular planets and signs.
2005 Cheshire Life Aug. 280/3 You share the rulership of Venus, goddess of love, which creates a relationship between the signs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1625