Word: sovereignty Part of Speech: noun Etymology: PIE word *upér From Late Middle English sovereynte, souvereynte [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman sovereyneté, soverentee, and Old French soveraineté, souveraineté (modern French souveraineté), from soverain + -té (suffix forming nouns, often denoting a property or quality). Soverain is derived from Vulgar Latin *superānus (“chief; sovereign”), from Latin super (“above; on top of”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“above, over”)) + -ānus (“suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, usually denoting a relationship of origin, position, or possession”)). The English word is analysable as sovereign + -ty (suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives). Pronunciation: /ˈsɒvɹənti/, /-ɹɪn-/, /ˈsɑv(ə)ɹənti/, [-ɾi] 1. The quality or state of being sovereign. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: […] Zephyrus the VVeſterne vvind being in loue vvith her [Chloris], and coueting her to vvyfe, gaue her for a dovvrie, the chiefedome and ſoueraigntye of al flovvers and greene herbes, grovving on earth. Example: […] Androgeus, falſe to natiue ſoyle, / And enuious of Vncles ſoueraintie, / Betrayd his countrey vnto forreine ſpoyle: […] 2. The quality or state of being sovereign. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable Example: Sovereignty, as a matter of right, appertains to the Nation only, and not to any individual; and a Nation has at all times an inherent indefeaſible right to aboliſh any form of Government it finds inconvenient, and eſtabliſh ſuch as accords vvith its intereſt, diſpoſition, and happineſs. Example: There is no difficulty is showing that the ideally best form of government is that in which the sovereignty, or supreme controlling power in the last resort, is vested in the entire aggregate of the community; every citizen not only having a voice in the exercise of that ultimate sovereignty, but being, at least occasionally, called on to take an actual part in the government, by the personal discharge of some public function, local or general. 3. The quality or state of being sovereign. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable 4. The quality or state of being sovereign. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: [His head,] Wherein by curious ſoueraigntie of Art, / Are fixt his piercing inſtruments of ſight: / Whose fiery circles beare encompaſſed / A heauen of heauenly bodies in their Spheares: […] Example: Of all complexions the culd ſoueraigntie, / Do meete as at a faire in her faire cheeke, / VVhere ſeuerall vvorthies make one dignitie, / VVhere nothing vvantes, that vvant itſelfe doth ſeeke. 5. A territory under the rule of a sovereign; an independent or self-governing nation or other polity. Labels: countable Example: Theſe Expences […] vvould not for the preſent, Rebus ſic ſtantibus [with things thus standing], become this King, vvhoſe fame and honour (as all other Sovereignties, ſo his in particular) ſtood more upon Reputation than profit; […] Example: VVhence it is clear as Noon-day that all the Horns here mentioned ſignifying particular Sovereignties, there being in the mean time but one Beaſt mentioned, vvhich neceſſarily implies but one Empire, State, or Kingdom, that all theſe particular Sovereignties muſt be the Sovereignties of one and the ſame State or Empire vvhich the Goat ſignified, vvhich is the Greek Empire.