Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sovereignty |
SovereigntyNoun1. Government free from external control. 2. Royal authority; the dominion of a monarch. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sovereignty" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Bible | 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). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Sovereignty is the right of a political entity to exercise power.
In international law, sovereignty is a key concept, referring to the right of a nation-state to exercise its powers.
(A monarch, who rules a sovereign country, is also called a sovereign.)
The question whether the individual states of the Union remained sovereign was debated in USA:
Sovereignty and Federalism
In federal systems of government, such as that of the United States, sovereignty also refers to powers the state-government has independently of the federal government.
Quotes from Encyclopædia Britannica.
See also: colonization, globalization
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sovereignty."
Synonym: SovereigntySynonym: reign (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Deity | Infinite power, infinite wisdom, infinite goodness, infinite justice, infinite truth, infinite mercy; omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence; unity, immutability, holiness, glory, majesty, sovereignty, infinity, eternity. |
Government | Command, empire, sway, rule; dominion, domination; sovereignty, supremacy, suzerainty; lordship, headship; chiefdom; seigniory, seigniority. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sovereignty |
| English words defined with "sovereignty": authoritarian, autocratic ♦ cashmere, crown ♦ dependent, despotic, diadem, dictatorial ♦ Empery ♦ grand duchess, great seal ♦ High seas, Hobbes ♦ Kashmir ♦ Mediatize ♦ Overking ♦ Potentacy ♦ Regality, Regnancy ♦ Sovereignties, subject ♦ Thearchy, Thomas Hobbes, tyrannical ♦ Unprince ♦ Word of command. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sovereignty": Candace ♦ floral emblem ♦ Nizam' ♦ Resident population ♦ territorial sea ♦ Yacoub ebn Laith. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sovereignty": empire ♦ Imperial. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Albert Pike | The sovereignty of one's self over one's self is called Liberty. |
Seneca | Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure. |
Sir Thomas Browne | Men live by intervals of reason under the sovereignty of humor and passion. |
Walter Bagehot | A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | If it were otherwise, and that absolute sovereignty and power of life and death naturally belonged to the husband, and were necessary to the society between man and wife, there could be no matrimony in any of those countries where the husband is allowed no such absolute authority. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Germany recognises the full sovereignty of Belgium over the whole of the contested territory of Moresnet (called Moresnet neutre). (reference) |
United Nations | 1948 | Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | In their toilet, in their gaiety, in the noise they made, there was sovereignty. |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | But she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | The F.R.G. quickly progressed toward fuller sovereignty and association with its European neighbors and the Atlantic community. (references) | |
The "Total Defense" concept involves the ability to mobilize all civil and military resources in the most effective manner when a comprehensive effort is required for the defense of the nation's territory, population and sovereignty. (references) | ||
As mentioned earlier, both of Korea's leading labor unions have called upon the government to scrap its reform plans, "claiming that overseas sales would not only deepen the national economy's dependency on outside economies, but also raise power rates at home." In another statement released by a unified energy-related labor union, one representative announced that "the reorganization of the power industry that the government is promoting now amounts to giving up the sovereignty of the nation's security and energy sources. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Congo | The law permits associations, political parties, and other groups to form freely, provided that they respect principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, and democracy. (references) |
Mauritania | The Government provided no specific reasons for the seizures, the censure, or the banning other than to cite Article 11 of the Constitution, which prohibits materials that undermine national sovereignty, territorial integrity, or national unity. (references) | |
Nepal | The Constitution prohibits speech and writing that would threaten the sovereignty and integrity of the Kingdom; disturb the harmonious relations among persons of different castes or communities; promote sedition, defamation, contempt of court, or crime; or contradict decent public behavior or morality. (references) | |
Economic History | Morocco | The issue of sovereignty over Western Sahara remains unresolved. (references) |
Portugal | Macau, a former dependency, reverted to Chinese sovereignty in December 1999. (references) | |
Belize | Neither Spain nor Guatemala ever exercised effective sovereignty over the area. (references) | |
Human Rights | Korea | The DPRK Government subsequently announced that it would withdraw from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), calling the resolution an attack on its sovereignty. (references) |
Malaysia | Human rights activists have questioned the need for this law, which was passed more than 60 years ago (during British sovereignty) under very different circumstances, and they have called for its repeal. (references) | |
Korea | In April 1998, during the 54th meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the North Korean delegation accused the international community of slandering the Government's human rights record, adding that the DPRK Government would not tolerate "any attempt to hurt the sovereignty and dignity of the country under the pretext of human rights." In July a North Korean delegate reporting to the U.N. Human Rights Committee dismissed reports of human rights violations in the country as the propaganda of "egoistic" and "hostile forces" seeking to undermine the sovereignty of the country. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Indonesia | Delegates approved a resolution rejecting the 1969 "Act of Free Choice," which confirmed Papua's incorporation into Indonesia; called on the central Government, along with the U.N. and the U.S. and Dutch governments, to review the process by which the territory became a part of Indonesia and to recognize Papua's sovereignty since 1961; and mandated the Papuan Presidium Council to strive for international recognition and to report back to the congress on December 1 2000, regarding progress toward these goals. (references) |
Political Economy | Japan | Sovereignty is vested in the citizenry, and the Emperor is defined as the symbol of state. (references) |
Israel and the occupied territories | The international community does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over any part of the occupied territories. (references) | |
Political Rights | Uganda | The CRC was set up to examine the constitutional provisions relating to sovereignty, political systems, democracy, and good governance; however, it did not receive sufficient funding to carry out its mandate. (references) |
Bhutan | In 1998 the King devolved his day-to-day executive powers to the Council of Ministers, who are elected by the National Assembly from among themselves, but reserved control of "matters of national sovereignty and national security" for himself. (references) | |
Canada | However, there is no expectation of another referendum on sovereignty before 2005. There are no laws limiting the participation of women in political life; however, the percentage of women in government and politics does not correspond to their percentage of the population. (references) | |
Trade | Hong Kong | Hong Kong's export control system has not changed as a result of Hong Kong's July 1, 1997 reversion to Chinese sovereignty. (references) |
Spain | There is a customs-free trade area in the two northern Africa enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla which are under Spanish sovereignty. (references) | |
Switzerland | The reasons for the rejection were many and varied, but the opposition was successful in casting the vote as a proxy decision on future EU membership and instinctive fears of abandoning neutrality, ceding sovereignty to Brussels, and an unwanted influx of foreigners prevailed. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Rush Limbaugh | The Democratic Party is willing, in the form of a presidential campaign, to subordinate our sovereignty to a bunch of nations and tinhorn dictators. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Madison | 1809-1817 | On the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty on the high seas and the security of an important class of citizens, whose occupations give the proper value to those of every other class. |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | New States, settled from among ourselves in this and in other parts, have been admitted into our Union in equal participation in the national sovereignty with the original States. |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | Opportunities and temptations to the assumption of power incompatible with State sovereignty would be increased and those barriers which resist the tendency of our system toward consolidation greatly weakened. |
James K. Polk | 1845-1849 | Each State is a complete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved powers. |
Dwight Eisenhower | 1953-1961 | Sovereignty is never bartered among freemen. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | This gathering symbolizes the constitutional foundation which makes continued progress possible, synchronizing the skills of three independent branches of Government, reserving fundamental sovereignty to the people of this great land. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own sovereignty is not for sale. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Sovereignty" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Sovereignty" is used about 1,213 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 1,213 | 6,413 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "sovereignty": squatter sovereignty. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "sovereignty": sovereignty-conscious. | |
Ending with "sovereignty": co-sovereignty, pro-sovereignty. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "sovereignty"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | sovranitet, pavarësi (detachment, independence, independency, self sufficiency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | سلطة عليا (high authority), السيادة (mastership), دولة ذات سيادة. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | суверенна държава (independency, sovereign), суверенитет (majesty), върховна власт (majesty, supremacy, topside). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 主权, 主權 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | svrchovanost (independence, independency, supremacy, suzerainty), suverenita (statehood). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | respektere alle de rettigheder,der er forbundet med og omfattet af deres suveraenitet (to respect all the rights inherent in and encompassed by sovereignty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | alle rechten die inherent zijn aan en besloten liggen in de soevereiniteit, eerbiedigen (to respect all the rights inherent in and encompassed by sovereignty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | پادشاهی (Imperial, Kingdom, Regal), قدرت (Authority, Godown, Might, Nerve, Posse, Potency, Power, Rod, Vim, Vis, Zing), حق حاکمیت . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | suvereenisuus. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | souveraineté. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Souveränität (superiority, supreme ease). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | κυριαρχία (ascendency, command, domain, domination, dominion, reign, supremacy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ממלכ" (kingdom, realm, state), קוממיות (independence), רבו ות (dominion, lordship, suzerainty), סובר יות. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | szuverenitás. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | kedaulatan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | sovranit . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 至上権 (supremacy), 統治権 , 万乗 , 主権 (dominion, supremacy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | しゅけ" (dominion, supremacy), しじょうけ" (supremacy), ば"じょう (congratulations, diversification, full vent, hurrah!, long life, multifariousness), とうちけ". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 군주 (monarch, sovereign). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | reealtys, kiondeeaght (supremacy), ard-reeriaght. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | overeigntysay supremacia (ascendance, ascendancy, primacy, supremacy), soberania (crown, domination, dominion, masterdom, raj), estado soberano, estado independente, autoridade suprema (supreme authority). (various references) suveranitate (dominion), stãpânire (authority, command, continence, control, demesne, dominance, domination, dominion, empire, enjoyment, government, grip, hand, holding, keeping, lordship, masterdom, mastery, ownership, possession, reign, rule, sway). (various references) суверенитет. (various references) suverenost, vrhovna vladavina, delatnost (activity, agency, work). (various references) soberanía (suzerainty). (various references) suveränitet. (various references) อำนาจสูงสุ"ในการปกครองประเทศ, อำนาจของกษัตริย์ (royalty). (various references) saltanat (court, grandeur, reign, sultanate), yücelik (dignity, highness, largeness, loftiness, magnanimity, nobility, sublimity, supremacy, the sublime), hakimiyet (command, control, dominance, domination, dominion, imperium, Raj), egemenlik (ascendancy, ascendency, dominance, domination, hegemony, imperium, mastery, Raj, reign, rule, supremacy, sway), bağımsızlık (freedom, independence, independency), büyüklük (ampleness, bigness, enormity, enormousness, generosity, grandeur, grandness, greatness, hugeness, largeness, magnitude, size, substantiality, superiority, supremacy, vastness). (various references) суверенітет (dominion), володарювання, верховна влада (empire, overrule, scepter, sceptre, supremacy). (various references) quyền tối cao chủ quyền. (various references) unbennaeth (autocracy, despotism), penllywyddiaeth, penarglwyddiaeth, penaduriaeth. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | imperium, secure, securem, securi, securibus, securim, securis, securium, securum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Sovereignty" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sovereighnty, sovereighty, sovereignity, sovereignth, sovereingty, soverelgnty, soveriegnty, soverignty, sovreignty. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sovereignty" (pronounced sÄ"vruntē) |
| 5 | -r u n t ē | warranty. |
| 4 | -u n t ē | certainty, seventy, uncertainty. |
| 3 | -n t ē | ante, anti, aplenty, appointee, Auntie, bounty, Canty, cognoscenti, county, dainty, diamante, flinty, inti, jaunty, Monte, ninety, panty, plenty, pointy, scanty, Shanti, shanty, twenty, vigilante. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-g-i-n-o-r-s-t-v-y" | |
-1 letter: generosity. | |
-2 letters: nervosity, oystering, revesting, sovereign, stereoing, vertigoes. | |
-3 letters: egestion, eringoes, eryngoes, estrogen, eversion, everting, genitors, gentries, integers, investor, nerviest, oneriest, reesting, reinvest, revoting, seignory, serenity, serotine, severing, severity, sirvente, steering, steeving, storying, stroying, tyrosine, venosity, vertigos. | |
-4 letters: entires, entries, enviers, eringos, erosive, eryngos, estrone, genitor, genoise, gerents, goiters, goitres, goriest, governs, greisen, greyest. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-g-i-n-o-r-s-t-v-y" | |
+3 letters: overgenerosity, seronegativity. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Historic 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Quotations: Spoken 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
