| 释义 |
sovereignty|ˈsɒvrɪntɪ|
Forms: (see sovereign n. and a.).
[a. AF. sovereyneté, soverentee, = OF. souveraineté (mod.F. souvraineté): see sovereign and -ty.]
The quality or condition of being sovereign.
1. Supremacy or pre-eminence in respect of excellence or efficacy.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 14 Þe ende and þe soueraynte of perfeccione standes in a verray anehede of Godd. c1403Lydg. Curia Sap. (Caxton) a ij, I symple shall extoll theyr soueraynte And my rudenes shall shewe theyr subtylyte. 1430–40― Bochas iv. Prol., Which..dyd excel In Rethorike by suffreinte of style. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 4 b, His sufferaigntie is, that being..borne aboute a man, [it] keepeth him safe. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 234 Of all complexions the cul'd soueraignty, Doe meet as at a faire in her faire cheeke. 1601― All's Well i. iii. 230 Some prescriptions Of rare and prou'd effects, such as his reading..had collected For generall soueraigntie. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry ii. iii. (1660) 53 By the soveraignty of these partitions being interposed between them.
2. Supremacy in respect of power, domination, or rank; supreme dominion, authority, or rule.
αc1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 171 Ye shul no more have sovereynte Of my love, than right in this cas is. 1390Gower Conf. I. 104 Till I hadde wonne The love and sovereinete Of what knyht that..Alle othre passeth. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 46 Crafft may shewe a foreyn apparence; But nature ay must have the sovereynte. 1475Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 51 God hathe gyve that souvereynte in mannys soule. 1530Palsgr. 273/2 Soveraynte that a lorde or a superiour hath, sovuerainté. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 143 The Pryor of Christes Church pretended to have..a Soverainty over St. Martines.
βc1550H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Book (1868) 97 Prease not thy selfe, if thou be wyse, to haue the soueraygntye. 1579E. K. Gloss. to Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Apr. 122 The chiefedome and soueraigntye of al flowres. 1607Shakes. Cor. iv. vii. 35 As is the Aspray to the Fish, who takes it By Soueraignty of Nature. 1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 355 Which causeth choller to have soveraignty and dominion over the other humours. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 398 Jove's own Tree, That holds the Woods in awful Sov'raignty. 1718Free-thinker No. 60. 33 The Romans..had acquired the Sovereignty of the Sea. 1754Edwards Freedom Will iv. vii. 233 The Sovereignty of God is his Ability and Authority to do whatever pleases him. 1821Shelley Hellas 159 The sage..May have attained to sovereignty and science Over those strong and secret things. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Power Wks. (Bohn) II. 334 As long as our people quote English standards, they will miss the sovereignty of power.
γ14..in Tundale's Vis. (1903) 200 Where neest thi son thou hast souerente. c1440Promp. Parv. 466/1 Soverente, superioritas. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 51 O lorde almyhte which hast overe al Soverente.
δ1460Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1903) 200 More-ouer I yave the suffrauntè that alle Bestis shoulde bowe þe vntyll. 1486Eng. Misc. (Surtees) 54 Unto whome..all other floures shall lowte, and evidently yeve suffranti. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2165 Bycause that Werburge in order was senyoure, Her mother Ermenylde gaue her the sufferaynte.
3. spec. The position, rank, or power of a supreme ruler or monarch; royal authority or dominion.
α1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 279 Þe Scottes seide þat þey knewe non suche sovereynte þat longed to þe kyng of Engelond. a1400–50Alexander 1859 So sadly in soueraynete he set neuire his hope. 1457Hardyng Chron. i. in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. (1912) 741 Youre Fadir gafe me in commaundement In Scotlonde ryde..To seke his ryght thar for his souereynte. 1530Palsgr. 273/2 Soveraynte of a kyng, regalité. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 48 Had not Androgeus,..enuious of Vncles soueraintie, Betrayd his contrey. 1601Sir W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca (1631) 2 Then must Soverainty nourish feare in subjection.
βa1548Hall Chron., Edw. V, 4 Manye princes by a longe continued soueraingtee, decline to a proud porte and behaueour. 1598R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 143 Semiramis..desired the King her husband that she might raigne with Soveraignty one onely day. 1625Carpenter Geogr. Del. ii. xiv. (1635) 238 Hee wanne the soueraignty not meerely by the Sword. c1670Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1681) 39 This Doctrine concerning the rights of soveraignty..is the Antient Common-Law. 1727De Foe Syst. Magic i. ii. (1840) 38 Yet this diminutive rank of sovereignty remained many ages in the world. 1777R. Watson Philip II, ix. (1839) 173 To grant him the title and dignity of the king of Tunis, in compensation for the sovereignty of Greece. 1791Paine Rights of Man (ed. 4) 168 Monarchical sovereignty, the enemy of mankind, and the source of misery, is abolished. 1878Lecky Eng. in 18th C. I. i. 71 It placed the sovereignty entirely apart from the category of mere human institutions.
fig.1884Pall Mall G. 16 Oct. 1/1 He taught Democracy the sovereignty of Duty.
b. transf. The supreme controlling power in communities not under monarchical government; absolute and independent authority.
1860Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 21/2 That [form of government] in which the sovereignty, or supreme controlling power in the last resort, is vested in the entire aggregate of the community. 1861Morn. Post 27 Nov., The ‘sovereignty’ of every State was subsequently acknowledged in express terms, and is a favourite doctrine of every American writer. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 265 Popular sovereignty is naturally the fundamental doctrine of the republic.
4. A territory under the rule of a sovereign, or existing as an independent state.
1715Lond. Gaz. No. 5345/3 On pretence of their being situate in the Soveraignty of Alsace. 1748Hartley Observ. Man ii. ii. 115 There were many petty Sovereignties in the Neighbourhood of Canada. 1849Cobden Speeches 72 The United States, with thirty governors, for thirty independent sovereignties. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. iii. 123 Divided among three quite distinct sovereignties. |