patriate means to assume control of (a governmental power) from a former mother country. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
patriate is pronounced /ˈpeɪtɹi.eɪt/.
Why “patriate” is a great word
To transfer a country's governing constitution from the legislative authority of a former imperial power to its own sovereign government, thereby completing its legal autonomy. A Canadian English back-formation from repatriate, itself from Latin re- ('again') and patria ('native land, fatherland'), the word was first recorded in 1965–70 and is possibly coined by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Unlike 'repatriate,' which speaks of returning a person or artifact to a homeland, or 'devolve,' which implies a downward delegation of power within an existing state, to patriate is to reclaim the final, formal keystone of sovereignty from an external parliament. It is the dry crackle of parchment transferred from a London desk to an Ottawa vault; the ceremonial breaking of the last regal seal; the quiet, tectonic warmth of a foundation settling onto its own bedrock. This is the political coming-of-age measured not in fanfare, but in the meticulous, anticlimactic stroke of a pen that finally writes its own laws.
Etymology
Canadian English. Back-formation from repatriate.
verb
- To assume control of (a governmental power) from a former mother country.“Canada moved to patriate its constitution from the United Kingdom in 1982.”