sovereignty

English

Alternative forms

• soveraigntie (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English sovereynte, from Anglo-Norman sovereyneté, from Old French souveraineté, from soverain.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒv.ɹən.ti/, /ˈsɒv.ɹɪn.ti/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

Noun

sovereignty (countable and uncountable, plural sovereignties)

1. Of a polity: the state of making laws and controlling resources without the coercion of other nations.

   Synonyms: autarchy, independence, nationality, nationhood

   • 2019, Manuel Valls, What have Britain and Catalonia got in common? Delusions of independence in the Guardian

     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.

2. Of a ruler: supreme authority over all things.
   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii], page 8, column 2:

     But Fortune, oh, / She is corrupted, chang’d, and wonne from thee, / Sh’adulterates hourely with thine Vnckle Iohn, / And with her golden hand hath pluckt on France / To tread downe faire reſpect of Soueraigntie, / And made his Maieſtie the bawd to theirs.

3. Of a person: the liberty to decide one's thoughts and actions.

Translations

of a nation: state of making laws and controlling resources without the coercion of other nations

• Afrikaans: soewereiniteit
• Albanian: sovranitet (sq) m
• Arabic: سِيَادَة‎ f (siyāda)
• Armenian: ինքնիշխանություն (hy) (inkʿnišxanutʿyun)
• Asturian: soberanía f
• Azerbaijani: suverenlik, müstəqillik (az)
• Belarusian: суверэнітэ́т (be) m (suvjerenitét), сувэрэнітэ́т m (suverenitét) (Taraškievica)
• Bengali: প্রভুত্ব (prôbhut), সার্বভৌমত্ব (śarbbhoumôt)
• Bulgarian: суверените́т m (suverenitét)
• Burmese: အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာ (my) (a.hkyup-a.hkraana)
• Catalan: sobirania (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 主權, 主权 (zyu² kyun⁴)

  Mandarin: 主權 (zh), 主权 (zh) (zhǔquán)

• Czech: svrchovanost f, suverenita f
• Danish: suverænitet c
• Dutch: soevereiniteit (nl) f
• Estonian: suveräänsus
• Finnish: suvereenisuus (fi), suvereniteetti (fi)
• French: souveraineté (fr) f
• Galician: soberanía (gl) f
• Georgian: სუვერენიტეტი (suvereniṭeṭi)
• German: Souveränität (de) f, Hoheit (de) f, Eigenständigkeit (de) f, Landeshoheit f, Eigenstaatlichkeit (de) f, Hoheitsgewalt (de) f, Oberhoheit (de) f
• Greek: κυριαρχία (el) f (kyriarchía)

  Ancient: ἀρχή f (arkhḗ)

• Hebrew: ריבונות \ רִבּוֹנוּת‎ (ribonút), סוּבֶרֶנִיּוּת‎ (suvereniyút)
• Hindi: संप्रभुता (samprabhutā), प्रभुता (hi) (prabhutā)
• Hungarian: szuverenitás (hu)
• Icelandic: fullveldi (is) n
• Indonesian: kedaulatan (id)
• Irish: ardcheannas m, ceannas m, flaithiúnas m
• Italian: sovranità (it) f
• Japanese: 主権 (ja) (しゅけん, shuken)
• Kazakh: егемендік (egemendik)
• Khmer: អធិបតេយ្យ (km) (ʼaʼthɨppaʼtay)
• Korean: 주권 (ko) (jugwon) (主權 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: فەرمان ڕەوایی‎ (ferman rewayî)

  Northern Kurdish: serwerî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: суверенитет (ky) (suverenitet), эгемендүүлүк (egemendüülük)
• Lao: ອະທິປະໄຕ (ʼa thi pa tai)
• Latin: summus imperii m, principatus (la) m
• Latvian: suverenitāte f
• Lithuanian: suverenitetas (lt) m
• Macedonian: сувереност f (suverenost), суверените́т m (suverenitét)
• Malay: kedaulatan
• Mongolian: суверенитет (suverenitet)
• Navajo: akʼídádéestʼį́į́ʼ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: suverenitet (no) m

  Nynorsk: suverenitet m

• Occitan: sobeiranetat f
• Pashto: حاکميت‎ (ps) m (hākemyát, hākәmyát)
• Persian: حاکمیت‎ (fa) (hâkemiyyat)
• Polish: suwerenność (pl) f
• Portuguese: soberania (pt) f
• Romanian: suveranitate (ro) f
• Russian: суверените́т (ru) m (suverenitét)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: суверенитет m

  Roman: suverenitet (sh) m

• Sinhalese: ස්වාධිපත්‍යය (swādhipatyaya)
• Slovak: suverenita f
• Slovene: suverenost f
• Spanish: soberanía (es) f
• Swedish: självständighet (sv) c, oavhängighet (sv) c, suveränitet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kahigpunuan, soberanya
• Tajik: ҳокимият (hokimiyat)
• Tamil: இறைமை (ta) (iṟaimai)
• Thai: อธิปไตย (th) (à-tí-bpà-dtai)
• Tocharian B: kamartāññe
• Turkish: egemenlik (tr), hükümranlık (tr), hâkimiyet (tr)
• Turkmen: suwerenitet
• Ukrainian: сувереніте́т (uk) m (suverenitét)
• Urdu: حاکمیت‎ f (hākamiyyat)
• Uyghur: ئىگىلىك ھوقۇقى‎ (igilik hoquqi)
• Uzbek: suverenitet (uz), mustaqillik (uz)
• Vietnamese: chủ quyền (vi) (主權)

of a ruler: supreme authority over all things

• Catalan: sobirania (ca) f
• Finnish: yksinvaltius
• Galician: soberanía (gl) f
• German: Souveränität (de) f, Oberherrschaft (de) f, höchste Gewalt f
• Irish: ardcheannas m, flaitheas m (religion), flaithiúnas m (politics)

• Italian: onnipotenza (it) f, pieno controllo
• Manx: ard-reeriaght f
• Maori: rangatiratanga
• Portuguese: autoridade (pt) f, soberania (pt) f
• Sanskrit: राज्य (sa) n (rājya)
• Turkish: mutlak güç

of a person: liberty to decide one's thoughts and actions

• Catalan: sobirania (ca) f
• Finnish: yksilönvapaus (fi), suvereniteetti (fi)
• German: Souveränität (de) f, Eigenständigkeit (de) f, Selbstbestimmung (de) f

• Irish: ceannas m
• Italian: arbitrio (it) m
• Portuguese: arbítrio (pt) m