autonomy

noun

1. 1

   Self-government; freedom to act or function independently.

2. 2

   The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.

3. 3

   The capacity of a system to make a decision about its actions without the involvement of another system or operator.

4. 4

   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.