sovereignty

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The quality or state of being sovereign.

   “[…] Zephyrus the VVeſterne vvind being in loue vvith her [Chloris], and coueting her to vvyfe, gaue her for a dovvrie, the chiefedome and ſoueraigntye of al flovvers and greene herbes, grovving on earth.”

   “[…] Androgeus, falſe to natiue ſoyle, / And enuious of Vncles ſoueraintie, / Betrayd his countrey vnto forreine ſpoyle: […]”

   “The King of Nauarre hath alſo tvvo parliaments which ſerue for the countries which he holdeth in ſoueraigntie.”

   “But Fortune, oh, / She is corrupted, chang'd, and vvonne from thee, / Sh'adulterates hourely vvith thine Vnckle Iohn, / And vvith her golden hand hath pluckt on France / To tread dovvne faire reſpect of Soueraigntie, / And made his Maieſtie the bavvd to theirs.”

   “[…] Joves ovvn Tree, / That holds the VVoods in avvful Sov'raignty, / Requires a depth of Lodging in the Ground; […]”

2. (broadly, countable, uncountable)The quality or state of being sovereign.

   “Sovereignty, as a matter of right, appertains to the Nation only, and not to any individual; and a Nation has at all times an inherent indefeaſible right to aboliſh any form of Government it finds inconvenient, and eſtabliſh ſuch as accords vvith its intereſt, diſpoſition, and happineſs.”

   “There is no difficulty is showing that the ideally best form of government is that in which the sovereignty, or supreme controlling power in the last resort, is vested in the entire aggregate of the community; every citizen not only having a voice in the exercise of that ultimate sovereignty, but being, at least occasionally, called on to take an actual part in the government, by the personal discharge of some public function, local or general.”

   “In today's interconnected economies and societies, a formal independence is the opposite of gaining real sovereignty and control. This is because the excluded party would be absent from the table when decisions are made, unable to participate as choices are taken that, sooner or later, will affect them.”

3. (broadly, countable, uncountable)The quality or state of being sovereign.
4. (countable, uncountable)The quality or state of being sovereign.

   “[His head,] Wherein by curious ſoueraigntie of Art, / Are fixt his piercing inſtruments of ſight: / Whose fiery circles beare encompaſſed / A heauen of heauenly bodies in their Spheares: […]”

   “Of all complexions the culd ſoueraigntie, / Do meete as at a faire in her faire cheeke, / VVhere ſeuerall vvorthies make one dignitie, / VVhere nothing vvantes, that vvant itſelfe doth ſeeke.”

   “You knovv my Father left me ſome preſcriptions / Of rare and prou'd effects, ſuch as his reading / And manifeſt experience, had collected / For generall ſoueraigntie: and that he vvil'd me / In heedfull'ſt reſeruation to beſtovv them, / As notes, vvhose faculties incluſiue vvere, / More then they vvere in note: […]”

   “[Ordinaries in heraldry] are alſo called, moſt vvorthy partitions, in reſpect that albeit the Field be charged in diuers parts thereof, vvhether vvith things of one or of diuers kindes, yet is euery of them as effectuall as if it vvere onely one, by the Soueraigntie of theſe partitions being interpoſed betvveene them.”

5. (countable)A territory under the rule of a sovereign; an independent or self-governing nation or other polity.

   “Theſe Expences […] vvould not for the preſent, Rebus ſic ſtantibus [with things thus standing], become this King, vvhoſe fame and honour (as all other Sovereignties, ſo his in particular) ſtood more upon Reputation than profit; […]”

   “VVhence it is clear as Noon-day that all the Horns here mentioned ſignifying particular Sovereignties, there being in the mean time but one Beaſt mentioned, vvhich neceſſarily implies but one Empire, State, or Kingdom, that all theſe particular Sovereignties muſt be the Sovereignties of one and the ſame State or Empire vvhich the Goat ſignified, vvhich is the Greek Empire.”

   “[T]his Diſunion at length occaſioned the total Ruin of them all; the Chriſtians being thereby enabled alſo to erect diverſe ſmall Sovereignties, vvith Regal Titles.”

   “Over Johnson's veto, Congress enacted one of the most important laws in American history, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, still on the books today. It affirmed the citizenship of everyone born in the United States, regardless of race (except Indians, still considered members of tribal sovereignties).”