From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsovereignsove‧reign1 /ˈsɒvrɪn $ ˈsɑːv-/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 formalPGO a king or queen2 PECa British gold coin used in the past that was worth £1
Examples from the Corpus
sovereign• Britain was concerned that its sovereignty and cultural identity would be harmed by the treaty.• Each sovereign speaks with a single voice, though not in harmony with other sovereigns.• The Court of Appeal held that the rent payable was £1,900 rather than the realisable value of 1,900 gold sovereigns.• Wages were paid in gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns.• The shield, however, is that of Anne, last sovereign of the House of Stuart, who died in 1714.• Yet in most cases regional custom was the surest defence against the aggression of neighbours, immediate lords or sovereigns.• The original sovereign continued to be struck until 1603, when James I ascended the throne, but was revived in 1817.• In one of the tales of the Arabian Nights the sovereign has the uncanny experience of meeting himself.• This aid was interpreted as a product of the treaty of alliance concluded between the two sovereigns in 1303.sovereignsovereign2 ●○○ adjective 1 PGhaving the highest power in a countrysovereign power/control2 PGINDEPENDENT COUNTRY OR ORGANIZATIONa sovereign country or state is independent and governs itselfExamples from the Corpus
sovereign• the sovereign authority of the Supreme Court• Hence parliament is not fully sovereign but is subordinate to the constitution and the values enshrined by it.• The sovereign courts' traditional preeminence within the government was vanishing too.• New agencies and new officials were created to discharge political and economic duties formerly assigned to the sovereign courts.• They enthroned Bao Dai as a sovereign emperor but continued to run his regime.• Banks also make other currency advances to traders, multinational corporations and sovereign governments.• Decolonization was associated with the spread of ideologies of national self-determination and ultimately the near-universality of the sovereign nation-state.• The Hopi tribe asserted their rights as a sovereign nation.• The government, however, refused to countenance demands for a sovereign national conference.• We fully recognize France's sovereign power in that area.• It was a number of years before Canada was accepted by the world as a sovereign state.• The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia saw its dismemberment and division into more than 300 individual and sovereign states and principalities.• The U.S. said it could not negotiate on behalf of other sovereign states.sovereign power/control• The exhibition begins in the Dark Ages with early king-making ceremonies and symbols of sovereign power.• Ultimately, an effective greenhouse treaty will need the voluntary co-operation of sovereign powers.• The Zuwaya image seems correct: there was no internal sovereign power, at any rate up to about 1875 or so.Origin sovereign2 (1200-1300) Old French soverain, from Vulgar Latin superanus, from Latin super “over, above” 