Adjacent Words

Sovereign definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOVEREIGN, a. suv'eran. [We retain this babarous orthography from the Norman sovereign. The true spelling would be suveran from the L. supernes, superus.]
1. Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; as a sovereign ruler of the universe.
2. Supreme; superior to all others; chief. God is the sovereign good of all who love and obey him.
3. Supremely efficacious; superior to all others; predominant; effectual; as a sovereign remedy.
4. Supreme; pertaining to the first magistrate of a nation; as sovereign authority.
SOVEREIGN, n. suv'eran.
1. A supreme lord or ruler; one who possesses the highest authority without control. Some earthly princes, kings and emperors are sovereigns in their dominions.
2. A supreme magistrate; a king.
3. A gold coin of England, value 20s or $4.44

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces; "an autonomous judiciary"; "a sovereign state" [syn: autonomous, independent, self-governing, sovereign]
2: greatest in status or authority or power; "a supreme tribunal" [syn: sovereign, supreme] n
1: a nation's ruler or head of state usually by hereditary right [syn: sovereign, crowned head, monarch]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun also sovran Etymology: Middle English soverain, from Anglo-French soverein, from soverein, adjective Date: 13th century 1. a. one possessing or held to possess sovereignty b. one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere c. an acknowledged leader ; arbiter 2. any of various gold coins of the United Kingdom II. adjective also sovran Etymology: Middle English soverain, from Anglo-French soverein, from Vulgar Latin *superanus, from Latin super over, above — more at over Date: 14th century 1. a. superlative in quality ; excellent b. of the most exalted kind ; supreme <sovereign virtue> c. having generalized curative powers <a sovereign remedy> d. of an unqualified nature ; unmitigated <sovereign contempt> e. having undisputed ascendancy ; paramount 2. a. possessed of supreme power <a sovereign ruler> b. unlimited in extent ; absolute c. enjoying autonomy ; independent <sovereign states> 3. relating to, characteristic of, or befitting a sovereign Synonyms: see free • sovereignly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a supreme ruler, esp. a monarch. 2 Brit. hist. a gold coin nominally worth £1. --adj. 1 a supreme (sovereign power). b unmitigated (sovereign contempt). 2 excellent; effective (a sovereign remedy). 3 possessing sovereign power (a sovereign State). 4 royal (our sovereign lord). Phrases and idioms: the sovereign good the greatest good, esp. for a State, its people, etc. sovereign pontiff see PONTIFF. Derivatives: sovereignly adv. sovereignty n. (pl. -ies). Etymology: ME f. OF so(u)verain f. L: -g- by assoc. with reign

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sovereign Sov"er*eign (? or ?; 277), n. 1. The person, body, or state in which independent and supreme authority is vested; especially, in a monarchy, a king, queen, or emperor. No question is to be made but that the bed of the Mississippi belongs to the sovereign, that is, to the nation. --Jefferson. 2. A gold coin of Great Britain, on which an effigy of the head of the reigning king or queen is stamped, valued at one pound sterling, or about $4.86. 3. (Zo["o]l.) Any butterfly of the tribe Nymphalidi, or genus Basilarchia, as the ursula and the viceroy. Syn: King; prince; monarch; potentate; emperor.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sovereign Sov"er*eign (? or ?; 277), a. [OE. soverain, sovereyn, OF. soverain, suvrain, F. souverain, LL. superanus, fr. L. superus that is above, upper, higher, fr. super above. See Over, Super, and cf. Soprano. The modern spelling is due to a supposed connection with reign.] 1. Supreme or highest in power; superior to all others; chief; as, our sovereign prince. 2. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other; possessing, or entitled to, original authority or jurisdiction; as, a sovereign state; a sovereign discretion. 3. Princely; royal. ``Most sovereign name.'' --Shak. At Babylon was his sovereign see. --Chaucer. 4. Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount. We acknowledge him [God] our sovereign good. --Hooker. 5. Efficacious in the highest degree; effectual; controlling; as, a sovereign remedy. --Dryden. Such a sovereign influence has this passion upon the regulation of the lives and actions of men. --South. Sovereign state, a state which administers its own government, and is not dependent upon, or subject to, another power.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sovereigns) 1. A sovereign state or country is independent and not under the authority of any other country. The Russian Federation declared itself to be a sovereign republic. = autonomous ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Sovereign is used to describe the person or institution that has the highest power in a country. Sovereign power will continue to lie with the Supreme People's Assembly. ADJ 3. A sovereign is a king, queen, or other royal ruler of a country. In March 1889, she became the first British sovereign to set foot on Spanish soil. = monarch N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Supreme, regal, royal, imperial, monarchical, princely. 2. Chief, predominant, principal, supreme, paramount, excellent, commanding, monarch, utmost, highest. 3. Efficacious, effectual. II. n. 1. Monarch, autocrat, supreme ruler. 2. King, emperor, prince, lord, potentate, ruler.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, anointed king, arch, ascendant, at the head, autarchic, autarkic, autonomous, banner, blue-ribbon, boss, boundless, capital, cardinal, central, champion, changeless, chief, chieftain, classical, coin, commanding, controlling, creating, creative, crown, crowned head, crowning, directing, dominant, double eagle, doubloon, ducat, dynast, dynastic, eagle, emperor, eternal, eternally the same, everlasting, fine, first, first-class, five-dollar gold piece, focal, foremost, free-spirited, freewheeling, general, glorious, gold piece, good, governing, grand duke, great, guiding, guinea, half crown, half eagle, hallowed, hard money, head, headmost, hegemonic, hegemonistic, high chief, highest, holy, immortal, immutable, imperator, imperatorial, imperatorious, imperial, imperious, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, independent, individualistic, infinite, inner-directed, just, king, king-emperor, kinglet, kinglike, kingly, leading, limitless, lord paramount, loving, luminous, magisterial, main, majestic, majesty, making, master, merciful, moidore, monarch, monarchal, monarchial, monarchic, monarchical, napoleon, neutral, nonaligned, nonpartisan, number one, numinous, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, overbearing, overlord, overruling, paramount, permanent, perpetual, petty king, piece, piece of money, piece of silver, plenipotentiary, potentate, pound sovereign, predominant, predominate, preeminent, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prevailing, prevalent, primal, primary, prime, prince, prince consort, princelike, princely, principal, purple, queenlike, queenly, radiant, ranking, regal, regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, roll of coins, rouleau, royal, royal personage, royalty, ruler, ruling, sacred, self-contained, self-dependent, self-determined, self-directing, self-governed, self-governing, self-reliant, self-subsistent, self-sufficient, self-supporting, separate, shaping, specie, star, stellar, supereminent, supreme, suzerain, ten-dollar gold piece, tetrarch, third-force, third-world, timeless, topflight, twenty-dollar gold piece, ubiquitous, unbounded, unchanging, undefined, unlimited