ms_minerva

suzerainty [soo-zuh-rin-tee, -reyn-]

noun:
the dominion of a suzerain; the right of a country to partly control another; overlordship

Examples:

rom suzerainty over the Middle East, North Africa and more than a quarter of Europe to almost nothing by the end. (Melik Kaylan, 'The Ottomans' Review: Rainbow Empire, Wall Street Journal, December 2021)

The Chagatay rule extended through the heart of Central Asia, and to the south the Ilkhanid suzerainty, with its epicenter in Persia, overflowed into Turkey and Afghanistan. (Colin Thubron, Pleasure Domes and Postal Routes, The New York Review, July 2021)

When on 11 Aug 1947, the Khan of Kalat committed to 'negotiate' the terms of accession to Pakistan with Jinnah, Kharan, Makran and Labela categorically rejected Kalat's claims of suzerainty and interlocution on their behalf. (Inam Ul Haque, Balochistan and Pakistan: myths about accession and secession, The Express Tribune, September 2024)

After Bir Singh Deo's death in 1627, the Mughals invaded the fort and held it till Chatrasal drove them out of the Bundelkhand region and established his suzerainty. He made Panna his capital. (M P Nathanael, Where Valour Speaks, Tribune India, July 2000)

I think there may be a danger of confusing suzerainty with sovereignty. Suzerainty is a conception which is quite common in the East, where it is intended to signify a token prestige; but a suzerain has no right whatsoever to interfere with the autonomy of the vassal. (Volume 481, Hansard, November 1950)

In the meanwhile, De Berg hath already hinted that she might re-establish the republic under the suzerainty of Spain, and appoint me as her Stadtholder. (Emmuska Orczy, The First Sir Percy)

Origin:

late 15c, suserente, 'supremacy,' from Old French suserenete 'office or jurisdiction of a suzerain' (Modern French suzeraineté), from suserain. The modern use, 'position, rank, dignity, or power of a suzerain' (by 1823) probably is a re-borrowing and for the first 20 years or so it was treated as a French word in English. (Online Etymology Dictionary)