Sovereignty

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sovereignty \Sov"er*eign*ty\, n.; pl. {Sovereignties}. [OE.
     soverainetee, OF. sovrainet['e], F. souverainet['e].]
     The quality or state of being sovereign, or of being a
     sovereign; the exercise of, or right to exercise, supreme
     power; dominion; sway; supremacy; independence; also, that
     which is sovereign; a sovereign state; as, Italy was formerly


     divided into many sovereignties.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Woman desiren to have sovereignty
           As well over their husband as over their love.
                                                    --Chaucer.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sovereignty
       n 1: government free from external control
       2: royal authority; the dominion of a monarch [syn: {reign}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  168 Moby Thesaurus words for "sovereignty":
     acme, administration, ascendance, ascendancy, ascendant, authority,
     authorization, balance of power, be-all and end-all, blue ribbon,
     caliphate, captainship, chairmanship, championship,
     civil government, claws, clutches, command, control, convenership,
     custody, czardom, dictatorship, direction, directorate,
     directorship, discipline, dispensation, disposition, dominance,
     dominancy, domination, dominion, dominium, effectiveness,
     eminent domain, emperorship, empery, empire, eternity, first place,
     first prize, foremanship, form of government, generalship, glory,
     governance, government, governorship, grip, guardianship, hand,
     hands, headship, hegemony, height, highest, holiness, immutability,
     imperialism, imperium, independence, infinite goodness,
     infinite justice, infinite love, infinite mercy, infinite power,
     infinite wisdom, infinity, influence, intendancy, internationalism,
     internationality, iron hand, jurisdiction, kaiserdom, kaisership,
     kinghood, kingship, land tenure, landholding, landownership,
     landowning, leadership, light, lordship, majesty, management,
     managership, masterdom, mastership, mastery, maximum, most,
     nationalism, nationality, nationhood, ne plus ultra, new high,
     omnipotence, omnipotency, omnipresence, omniscience, omnisciency,
     overlordship, overseership, oversight, ownership, palms,
     paramountcy, peoplehood, political organization, polity,
     possessorship, power, predominance, predominancy, predomination,
     preeminence, preponderance, prepotence, prepotency, presidency,
     primacy, principality, proctorship, proprietary, proprietorship,
     queenhood, queenship, raj, rajaship, record, regime, regimen,
     regnancy, regulation, reign, royalty, rule, say, seigniory,
     self-determination, self-government, sovereign nationhood,
     statehood, stewardship, sultanate, sultanship, superintendence,
     superintendency, superiority, supervision, supervisorship,
     supremacy, suzerainship, suzerainty, sway, system of government,
     talons, the crown, the throne, top spot, ubiquity, unity,
     upper hand, whip hand, zenith
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Sovereignty
     of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own
     good pleasure (Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev.
     4:11).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  SOVEREIGNTY. The union and exercise of all human power possessed in a state; 
  it is a combination of all power; it is the power to do everything in a 
  state without accountability; to make laws, to execute and to apply them: to 
  impose and collect taxes, and, levy, contributions; to make war or peace; to 
  form treaties of alliance or of commerce with foreign nations, and the like. 
  Story on the Const. Sec. 207. 
       2. Abstractedly, sovereignty resides in the body of the nation and 
  belongs to the people. But these powers are generally exercised by 
  delegation. 
       3. When analysed, sovereignty is naturally divided into three great 
  powers; namely, the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary; the first 
  is the power to make new laws, and to correct and repeal the old; the second 
  is the power to execute the laws both at home and abroad; and the last is 
  the power to apply the laws to particular facts; to judge the disputes which 
  arise among the citizens, and to punish crimes. 
       4. Strictly speaking, in our republican forms of government, the 
  absolute sovereignty of the nation is in the people of the nation; (q.v.) 
  and the residuary sovereignty of each state, not granted to any of its 
  public functionaries, is in the people of the state. (q.v.) 2 Dall. 471; and 
  vide, generally, 2 Dall. 433, 455; 3 Dall. 93; 1 Story, Const. Sec. 208; 1 
  Toull. n. 20 Merl. Repert. h.t.