sovereignty
[sov-rin-tee, suhv-]
- the quality or state of being sovereign, or of having supreme power or authority.
- the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign;royal rank or position; royalty.
- supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community.
- rightful status, independence, or prerogative.
- a sovereign or independent state, community, or political unit.
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Origin of sovereignty
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
sovereignty
- supreme and unrestricted power, as of a state
- the position, dominion, or authority of a sovereign
- an independent state
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for self-sovereignty
sovereignty
mid-14c., "pre-eminence," from Anglo-French sovereynete, Old French souverainete, from soverain (see sovereign (adj.)). Meaning "authority, rule, supremacy of power or rank" is recorded from late 14c.; sense of "existence as an independent state" is from 1715.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sovereignty
[(sov-ruhn-tee, sov-uhr-uhn-tee)]
A nation or state's supreme power within its borders. A government might respond, for example, to criticism from foreign governments of its treatment of its own citizens by citing its rights of sovereignty.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.