# sovereignty

Pronunciation: say "SOV-ruhn-tee" US /ˈsɑv(ə)ɹənti/, UK /ˈsɒvɹənti/

## Noun

1. The capacity of a nation or polity to control its own resources, make laws independently, and govern itself without coercion by other states.
   - Simple: A country's power to make its own laws and rule itself, free from control by other nations.
   - _International law treats sovereignty as the foundation of every recognized state's authority._
   - _The treaty required member nations to surrender some sovereignty to a central body._
2. The supreme authority or dominion that a ruler, especially a monarch, holds over a realm or its people.
   - Simple: A ruler's complete power and control over a country or people.
   - _The monarch's sovereignty extended over every province in the empire._
   - _Rebels challenged the emperor's sovereignty by refusing to pay tribute._
3. An individual's liberty to decide their own actions and thoughts.
   - Simple: A person's freedom to decide their own actions and thoughts.
   - _Modern ethics places great weight on personal sovereignty in matters of belief._
   - _He guarded his sovereignty fiercely, refusing to let anyone dictate his decisions._
4. A nation, territory, or other political unit that governs itself independently or is ruled by a sovereign.
   - Simple: A land or country that rules itself under its own leader.
   - _The treaty recognized the breakaway region as a separate sovereignty._
   - _Medieval Europe was a patchwork of competing sovereignties and shifting borders._
5. Supreme excellence, or a commanding mastery of some skill or task.
   - Simple: The highest level of skill or excellence in doing something.
   - _The pianist's sovereignty at the keyboard left the audience spellbound._
   - _Few rivals could match his sovereignty in the art of debate._

## Origin

This word comes from Late Middle English sovereynte, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sovereyneté and Old French soveraineté, formed from soverain plus a noun-forming suffix. Soverain goes back to Vulgar Latin *superānus ('chief; sovereign'), from Latin super ('above; on top of'), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *upér ('above, over'). In English it can be read as sovereign plus -ty.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sovereignty (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).