sovereignty

What it means

1. The quality or state of being sovereign.
   1. countableuncountableOf a ruler (especially a monarch): supreme authority or dominion over something.

      The King of Nauarre hath alſo tvvo parliaments which ſerue for the countries which he holdeth in ſoueraigntie.

      1592, [John Eliot?], The Survay or Topographical Description of France: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe, […], →OCLC, page 2

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      […] 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.

      1579, E. K., “[Aprill. Ægloga Quarta.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 15, verso

      […] Androgeus, falſe to natiue ſoyle, / And enuious of Vncles ſoueraintie, / Betrayd his countrey vnto forreine ſpoyle: […]

      1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 48, page 338

      But Fortune, oh, / She is corrupted, chang'd, and vvonne from thee, / Sh'adulterates hourely vvith thine Vnckle Iohn, / And vvith her golden hand hath pluckt on France / To tread dovvne faire reſpect of Soueraigntie, / And made his Maieſtie the bavvd to theirs.

      c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 8, column 2

      […] Joves ovvn Tree, / That holds the VVoods in avvful Sov'raignty, / Requires a depth of Lodging in the Ground; […]

      1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 81, lines 397–399

      Yet this Diminutive Rank of Soveraignty remain’d many Ages in the VVorld; and vve find, not only in Abraham’s Time, vvhen the five Cities of the Lake or Valley, vvhere Sodom ſtood, had five Kings over them; […] but even at the coming of the Iſraelites into Canaan, almoſt every City had its King; […]

      1727, [Daniel Defoe], “How Wisdom and Learning Advanc’d Men in the First Ages to Royalty and Government, and How Many of the Magicians were Made Kings on that Account; as Zoroaster, Cadmus, and Many Others”, in A System of Magick; or, A History of the Black Art. […], London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 39

      Synonyms: diadem · Antonyms: nonsovereignty

   2. broadlycountableuncountableOf a nation or other polity: the state of being able to control resources, make laws independently, and otherwise govern itself without the coercion or concurrence of other polities.

      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.

      1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, London: […] J. S. Jordan, […], →OCLC, page 157

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      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.

      1861, John Stuart Mill, “That the Ideally Best Form of Government is Representative Government”, in Considerations on Representative Government, London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, […], →OCLC, page 53

      On the other hand, the nationalitarian phenomenon is one in which 'the struggle against the imperialist powers of occupation has as its object, beyond the clearing of the national territory, the independence and sovereignty of the national State, uprooting in depth the positions of the ex-colonial power – the reconquest of the power of decision in all domains of national life, the prelude to that reconquest of identity which is at the heart of the renaissance undertaken on the basis of fundamental national demands, and ceaselessly contested, by every means available, on every level, and notably on the internal level'.

      1981, Anouar Abdel-Malek, “Sociology of National Development: Problems of Conceptualisation”, in Nation and Revolution (Social Dialectics; 2), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, part I (The Nation as Crucible), page 13

      In today's interconnected economies and societies, a formal independence is the opposite of gaining real sovereignty and control. This is because the excluded party would be absent from the table when decisions are made, unable to participate as choices are taken that, sooner or later, will affect them.

      2019 March 7, Manuel Valls, “What have Britain and Catalonia got in common? Delusions of independence”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Sep 2023

      Synonyms: autarchy, independence, nationality, nationhood · Antonyms: nonsovereignty

   3. broadlycountableuncountableOf a person: the liberty to decide one's actions and thoughts.

      Antonyms: nonsovereignty

In a sentence

[…] 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.

1579, E. K., “[Aprill. Ægloga Quarta.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 15, verso

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*upér“above, over”
2. Latinsuper“above; on top of”
3. Vulgar Latin*superānus“chief; sovereign”
4. Old Frenchsoveraineté
5. Anglo-Normansovereyneté
6. Middle Englishsovereynte
7. Englishsovereignty

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).