sovereignty [sov -rin-tee, suhv -]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for sovereignty on Thesaurus.com noun, plural sov·er·eign·ties. 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. Show More
Origin of sovereignty 1300–50; Middle English soverainte <
Anglo-French sovereynete (
Old French soverainete ), equivalent to
soverain sovereign +
-ete -ty2 Related forms self-sov·er·eign·ty , noun su·per·sov·er·eign·ty , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sovereignty Contemporary Examples of sovereignty “Sovereignty , I argued, cannot be conceived as the right to kill millions of innocent people,” Lemkin wrote in his notebooks.
It is now a so called Crown Dependency, meaning it falls under the sovereignty of the British Crown, but is not part of the U.K.
The tagline for the Museum is “Paz, Memoria, y Sobernía”: Peace, Memory and Sovereignty .
Despite competing claims made by the British government and nearby Antigua, the rock island maintained its sovereignty .
The framers in 1787 were wary of sovereignty , and tried to divide, distance, check and balance its exercise.
Historical Examples of sovereignty We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty , for our own sovereignty is not for sale.
All the money, all the sovereignty , would be his; he henceforth would reign.
And whether he would or not nobody could tell; it was all sovereignty .
But the duration of their sovereignty was as a summer cloud or morning dew.
It came about through Don John of Austria's dreams of sovereignty .
British Dictionary definitions for sovereignty supreme and unrestricted power, as of a state the position, dominion, or authority of a sovereign an independent state Show More
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 sovereignty n. 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.
