1. (n.) The exclusive power or privilege of dealing in some article, or of trading in some market; as, a monopoly on phone services\; sole command of the traffic in anything, however obtained; as, the proprietor of a patented article is given a monopoly of its sale for a limited time; chartered trading companies have sometimes had a monopoly of trade with remote regions; a combination of traders may get a monopoly of a particular product.
2. (n.) Exclusive possession; as, a monopoly of land.
3. (n.) The commodity or other material thing to which the monopoly relates; as, tobacco is a monopoly in France.
