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sovereign

sovereign

40 7.2
A king or queen who rules a country and gets the position from their family
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑːvrɪn/
translation icon : soberano
  • I agree with some of what Nathaniel and John say, but I believe England's still our sovereign.
  • an absolute sovereign
  • sovereign issued an order

This is up to the sovereign and nobody else.

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Examples

  • During the ceremony, the new sovereign was crowned amidst great celebration.

  • He said that laws are expressions of desire on the part of a sovereign, like a king or parliament, that people behave in certain ways.

  • This is up to the sovereign and nobody else.

  • The law is what the sovereign says it is.

  • Between you and your sovereign, there can be no proportion of duty.

  • The Government today says it will ignore the sovereign will of Parliament.

  • She must get word to our sovereign.

  • Last October, I opened the new Canadian Parliament and as you know, this was the first time that any sovereign had done so in Ottawa.

  • Unlike Elizabeth, both sovereigns gave the lower House cause to doubt their commitment to the Protestant religion.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Sovereign of all England!

Synonyms

king
vssovereign
1.0

A man who rules a country and usually gets the job from his family

includes that case but also other supreme rulers beyond male ones
emperor
vssovereign
524 3.5

A man who rules an empire made of many countries

is narrower, usually meaning a single nation's hereditary head
ruler
vssovereign
153 2.1

A person who has power over a country or its people

is more specific, denoting hereditary national supreme authority
monarch
vssovereign
41 5.1

A king or queen who rules a country and usually gets the job by birth

is any supreme ruler including nonhereditary ones
potentate
vssovereign
  • Formal
7 9.4

A ruler with very great power who is not limited by law

stresses lawful hereditary authority rather than unchecked rule
autarch
vssovereign
  • Formal
3 9.9

A ruler who has complete power over a country and its people

focuses on hereditary and national legitimacy instead of absolute control
crowned head
vssovereign
  • Literature
1 7.8

A king or queen who rules because they get the position from their family

is the general term for any supreme national leader
sovran
vssovereign
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A king or queen with complete power over a country

is the modern neutral word for the same role

Antonyms

subject
  • UK
76 7.4

A person who owes loyalty to a king or queen

Compounds

2 9.9

A rule that stops people from suing the government unless it agrees

How Powerful

emperor
524 3.5
sovereign
40 7.2
ruler
153 2.1
leader
1.0

Surface Forms

sovereign singular
sovereigns plural

Etymology

Sovereign comes from the Old French souverain and the Latin root super, which means 'above' or 'over'. So a sovereign was someone 'above' others, which helps you remember a sovereign is a monarch who rules with the highest authority, often by birth.