Sov"er*eign (? or ?; 277), n. 1. The person, body, or state in which independent and supreme authority is vested; especially, in a monarchy, a king, queen, or emperor.
No question is to be made but that
the bed of the Mississippi belongs to the sovereign, that is, to the nation.
Jefferson. 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.
3. (Zoöl.) Any butterfly of the tribe
Nymphalidi, or genus
Basilarchia, as the ursula and the viceroy.
Syn. -- King; prince; monarch; potentate; emperor.
Sov"er*eign (? or ?; 277), 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.
2. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other;
possessing, or entitled to, original authority or jurisdiction; as, a sovereign state; a sovereign discretion.
3.
Princely; royal. "Most sovereign name."
Shak.
At Babylon was his sovereign see.
Chaucer.
4. Predominant;
greatest; utmost; paramount.
We acknowledge him [God] our
sovereign good.
Hooker. 5. Efficacious in the highest degree; effectual; controlling; as, a sovereign remedy. Dryden.
Such a sovereign influence
has this passion upon the regulation of the lives
and actions of men.
South. Sovereign state, a state which
administers its own government, and is not dependent upon, or subject to, another power.
Hear it pronounced