sovereign
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɒv.ɹɪn/
ipa: /ˈsɑv(ə)ɹɪn/
rhymes: -ɒvɹɪn
Forms: form: more sovereign
form: most sovereign
form: soveraign
form: soveraigne
form: sovran
form: sovring
form: sovrin
Etymology: From Middle English sovereyn, from Old French soverain (whence also modern French souverain), from Vulgar Latin *superānus (compare Italian sovrano, Spanish soberano) from Latin super (“above”). Spelling influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. Doublet of soprano, from the same Latin root via Italian. See also suzerain, foreign.
Senses: examples: text: sovereign nation
glosses: Exercising power of rule.
examples: text: Her voice was her sovereign talent.
glosses: Exceptional in quality.
examples: text: The ſoueraigne weede betwixt two marbles plaine
 She pownded ſmall, and did in peeces bruze,
 And then atweene her lilly handes twaine,
 Into his wound the iuyce thereof did ſcruze […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
text: […] God save the mark!—
And telling me the sovereign’st thing on earth
Was parmaceti for an inward bruise;
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
text: Homer of Moly and Nepenthe singes:
 Moly, the gods most soveraigne hearbe divine.
 Nepenth Hellen's drink, which gladnes brings,—
 Hart's greife repells, and doth yᵉ witts refine.
ref: 1876, John Davies, “[Tobacco.]”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Edited, with Memorial-Introduction and Notes, by the Rev. Alexander B. Grosart. In Two Volumes (Early English Poets), volume II, London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly, →OCLC, page 226:
text: a sovereign remedy
ref: 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
text: Such a sovereign influence has this passion upon the regulation of the lives and actions of men.
ref: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
text: In Spain people still bathe in the sea or roll naked in the dew of the meadows on St. John’s Eve, believing that this is a sovereign preservative against diseases of the skin.
ref: 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 3, page 297:
topics: medicine
pharmacology
sciences
glosses: Extremely potent or effective (of a medicine, remedy etc.).
examples: text: Gentlemen, may I introduce Her Royal Highness, the Sovereign and Most Imperial Majesty, Empress Elizabeth of Vicron.
text: You're the keeper of the castle
 So be a father to your children
 The provider of all their daily needs
 Like a sovereign Lord protector
 Be their destiny's director
 And they'll do well to follow where you lead.
ref: 1972, Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert, “Keeper of the Castle”, performed by The Four Tops:
glosses: Having supreme, ultimate power.
examples: text: You pity not the state, nor the remembrance of his most sovereign name.
ref: c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
glosses: Princely; royal.
examples: text: We acknowledge him [God] our sovereign good.
ref: 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
glosses: Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount.
Synonyms: autonomous
supreme
Derived terms: sovereign bond
sovereign citizen
sovereign debt
sovereign immunity
sovereignization
sovereignly
sovereign ring
sovereign state
sovereign territory
sovereign wealth fund