Definitions
1.NounThe right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.
2.NounA self-governing country or region.
3.NounThe capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.
4.NounThe capacity of a system to make a decision about its actions without the involvement of another system or operator.
5.NounThe status of a church whose highest-ranking bishop is appointed by the patriarch of the mother church, but which is self-governing in all other respects. Compare autocephaly.