GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

  1.       
    
    Sovereign , a. [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.
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    2. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other; possessing, or entitled to, original authority or jurisdiction; as, a sovereign state; a sovereign discretion.
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    3. Princely; royal. “Most sovereign name.”
      Shak.

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      At Babylon was his sovereign see.
      Chaucer.

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    4. Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount.
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      We acknowledge him [God] our sovereign good.
      Hooker.

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    5. Efficacious in the highest degree; effectual; controlling; as, a sovereign remedy.
      Dryden.

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      Such a sovereign influence has this passion upon the regulation of the lives and actions of men.
      South.

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      Sovereign state, a state which administers its own government, and is not dependent upon, or subject to, another power.

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  2.       
    
    Sovereign , n.
    1. The person, body, or state in which independent and supreme authority is vested; especially, in a monarchy, a king, queen, or emperor.
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      No question is to be made but that the bed of the Mississippi belongs to the sovereign, that is, to the nation.
      Jefferson.

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    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.
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    3. (Zool.) Any butterfly of the tribe Nymphalidi, or genus Basilarchia, as the ursula and the viceroy.
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      Syn. -- King; prince; monarch; potentate; emperor.

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