monopoly

noun5

1. •
   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 powerful control over it.

   • The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly, and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of their private revenue. — 1886
2. •
   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. •
   The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.
4. •
   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.
5. •
   The market thus controlled.