| monopoly | |
| 1. n. A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting | |
| 2. n. An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession. | |
| A land monopoly renders its holder(s) nearly almighty in an agricultural society. | |
| 3. n. The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control. | |
| Granting monopolies in concession constitutes a market-conform alternative to taxation for the state, while the crown sometimes bestowed a monopoly as an outrageous gift. | |
| 4. n. (metonymy) The market thus controlled. | |
| 5. n. (metonymy) The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the the above manners. | |
