sovereign
    adj 1: (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces;
           "an autonomous judiciary"; "a sovereign state" [syn:
           autonomous, independent, self-governing,
           sovereign]
    2: greatest in status or authority or power; "a supreme
       tribunal" [syn: sovereign, supreme]
    n 1: a nation's ruler or head of state usually by hereditary
         right [syn: sovereign, crowned head, monarch]

Sovereign \Sov"er*eign\ (? or ?; 277), n.
   1. The person, body, or state in which independent and
      supreme authority is vested; especially, in a monarchy, a
      king, queen, or emperor.
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            No question is to be made but that the bed of the
            Mississippi belongs to the sovereign, that is, to
            the nation.                           --Jefferson.
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   2. A gold coin of Great Britain, on which an effigy of the
      head of the reigning king or queen is stamped, valued at
      one pound sterling, or about $4.86.
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   3. (Zool.) Any butterfly of the tribe Nymphalidi, or genus
      Basilarchia, as the ursula and the viceroy.
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   Syn: King; prince; monarch; potentate; emperor.
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Sovereign \Sov"er*eign\ (? or ?; 277), a. [OE. soverain,
   sovereyn, OF. soverain, suvrain, F. souverain, LL. superanus,
   fr. L. superus that is above, upper, higher, fr. super above.
   See Over, Super, and cf. Soprano. The modern spelling
   is due to a supposed connection with reign.]
   1. Supreme or highest in power; superior to all others;
      chief; as, our sovereign prince.
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   2. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other; possessing,
      or entitled to, original authority or jurisdiction; as, a
      sovereign state; a sovereign discretion.
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   3. Princely; royal. "Most sovereign name." --Shak.
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            At Babylon was his sovereign see.     --Chaucer.
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   4. Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount.
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            We acknowledge him [God] our sovereign good.
                                                  --Hooker.
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   5. Efficacious in the highest degree; effectual; controlling;
      as, a sovereign remedy. --Dryden.
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            Such a sovereign influence has this passion upon the
            regulation of the lives and actions of men. --South.
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   Sovereign state, a state which administers its own
      government, and is not dependent upon, or subject to,
      another power.
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SOVEREIGN, Eng. law. The name of a gold coin of Great Britain of the value 
of one pound sterling. 

SOVEREIGN. A chief ruler with supreme power; one possessing sovereignty. 
(q.v.) It is also applied to a king or other magistrate with limited powers. 
     2. In the United States the sovereignty resides in the body of the 
people. Vide Rutherf. Inst. 282.