Category:Sovereign

Sov"er*eign ( or ; 277), a. Etym: [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.

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. (zoöl.)

Defn: any butterfly of the tribe nymphalidi, or genus basilarchia, as The ursula and the viceroy.

Syn. -- king; prince; monarch; potentate; emperor.