Meaning

1. The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.
2. A self-governing country or region.
3. The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.
4. The capacity of a system to make a decision about its actions without the involvement of another system or operator.
5. The 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.