autonomy
noun (plural autonomies)
1. the right or condition of self-government:
自治(権)
e.g. Tatarstan demanded greater autonomy within the Russian Federation.
a self-governing country or region:
自治国家, 自治体, 自治団体
e.g. the national autonomies of the Russian Republic.
freedom from external control or influence; independence:
自立［自主］性, 自律性; (行動や意思の)自由
e.g. economic autonomy is still a long way off for many women.
2. (in Kantian moral philosophy) the capacity of an agent to act in accordance with objective morality rather than under the influence of desires.
DERIVATIVES
autonomist |-mist| noun & adjective
ORIGIN
early 17th century: from Greek autonomia, from autonomos ‘having its own laws’, from autos ‘self’ + nomos ‘law’.