2. The authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate;
the right of making or enforcing laws; the power or right
of exercising authority.
To live exempt From Heaven's high jurisdiction. --
Milton.
You wrought to be a legate; by which power You
maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops. -- Shak.
3. Sphere of authority; the limits within which any
particular power may be exercised, or within which a
government or a court has authority.
Note: Jurisdiction, in its most general sense, is the power
to make, declare, or apply the law. When confined to
the judiciary department, it is what we denominate the
judicial power, the right of administering justice
through the laws, by the means which the laws have
provided for that purpose. Jurisdiction is limited to
place or territory, to persons, or to particular
subjects. --Duponceau.