sovranadj.n.
/ˈsɒvrən/ Chiefly poetic.
A. adj.
= sovereign adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [adjective] > supreme (of authority) > having supreme authority
mosteOE
sovereign1340
overest1481
supreme1496
primea1591
sovran1649
rankest1907
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adjective] > greatly > in the utmost degree
strengestc893
sovereign1377
extreme1595
sovrana1834
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 10 The titles of Sovran Lord, naturall Lord, and the like.
1751 G. West Education 25 While Senates, Priests and Kings his sovran Sceptre own.
1751 G. West Education 32 His sovran Sway.
1797 S. T. Coleridge Relig. Musings (new ed.) in Poems (ed. 2) 120 Nor high Grove,..Nor the starr'd Azure, nor the sovran Sun.
1802 S. T. Coleridge Hymn Sunrise Chamouni 3 So long he seems to pause On thy bald awful head, O sovran Blanc!
a1834 C. Lamb Lines on Pict. by Leonardo da Vinci in Misc. Poems He..had read all the sovran schemes and divine riddles there.
1887 J. P. Mahaffy Alexander's Empire (1890) xxxii. 300 When circumstances, as it were, thrust upon them sovran authority.
B. n.
= sovereign n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > [noun]
princec1225
sovereign1297
monarch?a1439
royc1440
royalc1440
regala1450
crown1474
potentatec1475
throne1593
mulai1594
Monarcho1598
sovran1649
sceptre-holder1655
Elohima1682
head of state1873
the Palace1962
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 20 Yet Eglon by the Jewes had bin acknowledgd as thir Sovran.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 246 Since hee Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid What shall be right. View more context for this quotation
1802 S. T. Coleridge Hymn Sunrise Chamouni 29 Thou first and chief, sole Sovran of the Vale!
1824 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. I. i. 7 The scrip across my saddlebow contains a full receipt for the discharge of my sovran.
1887 J. P. Mahaffy Alexander's Empire (1890) vi. 57 By armed interference, which was not unfrequent under these sovrans.
Derivatives
ˈsovranly adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [adverb] > with royal or princely authority
reallya1375
sovereignlyc1375
riallya1387
regallya1450
royally?c1500
sovranly1832
1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 56 The imperial Olympian With archèd eyebrow smiling sovranly.
1880 W. Watson Prince's Quest 14 To see that royal maiden..Unto her palace riding sovranly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.n.1649