sovereignty

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*upér“above, over”
2. Latin · derived fromsuper“above; on top of”
3. Vulgar Latin · derived from*superānus“chief; sovereign”
4. Old French · derived fromsoveraineté
5. Anglo-Norman · derived fromsovereyneté
6. Middle English · inherited fromsovereynte
7. English todaysovereignty

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).

Words from the same roots