sovereign

Meanings

Adjective

• Exercising power of rule.
• Exceptional in quality.
• Extremely potent or effective (of a medicine, remedy etc.).
• Having supreme, ultimate power.
• Princely; royal.
• Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount.

Noun

• A monarch; the ruler of a country.
• One who is not a subject to a ruler or nation.
• A gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of one pound sterling but in practice used as a bullion coin.
• A former Australian gold coin, minted from 1855–1931, of one pound value.
• A very large champagne bottle with the capacity of about 25 liters, equivalent to standard bottles.
• Any butterfly of the tribe Nymphalini (tribe), or genus Basilarchia (genus), as the ursula and the viceroy.
• A large, garish ring; a sovereign ring.

Verb

• To rule over as a sovereign.

Related

Similar words

• autonomous
• supreme

Narrower meaning words

• king, queen

Origin

• From Middle English sovereyn, from Old French soverain (whence also modern French souverain), from Vulgar Latin *superānus (compare Italian sovrano, Spanish soberano) from Latin super ("above"). Spelling influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. soprano, from the same Latin root via Italian. See also suzerain, foreign.