soberano

Forms

soberano (feminine soberana, masculine plural soberanos, feminine plural soberanas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *superiānus (“being above, supreme”), according to Corominas, who derives it from superius (“higher”).^[2][3] Alternatively it may be superior with a change of suffix.^[2] The DLE starts from Medieval Latin superanus, from super (“above, on top”), and Wiktionary gives both *superānus and the form with -i-.^[4][1][5]

The same base is Catalan sobirà, Occitan sobeiran, French souverain, Italian sovrano and Portuguese soberano; the Catalan and Occitan forms are the clearest evidence for the form with -i-.^[2][3][1] The Italian soprano, once “superior, sovereign” and now “treble”, was borrowed into Spanish as soprano, a doublet.^[3][1]

The Latin preposition goes back to *super, from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uper(i) (“over, above”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is Berceo, of the first half of the 13th century.^[2][3][7] In Alfonso X's astronomical books of 1277 the adjective still means “higher, upper”, of stars.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From “upper” the adjective came to mean “supreme, excellent”: Autoridades in 1726 gave “high, extreme, singular” first, with la soberana hermosura from the Celestina, then “haughty”, and as a noun a lord with absolute rule over his vassals.^[9] Covarrubias had defined it as the highest and most powerful, above all others.^[10] The Academy's 1843 edition defined the noun as one who holds supreme authority, and its 1899 edition put this sense first, with the etymology from Latin superanus.^[11][12] Salvá in 1846 also recorded the name for the English pound sterling coin.^[13] The sense “haughty” is marked obsolete by 2001.^[14] Today it is also used of independent nations, and colloquially as an intensifier for something very great.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – first record, in Berceo.^[3][2]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's Libros del saber de astronomía use it for “upper”.^[8]
• 1490 – the derivative soberanía in Alfonso de Palencia.^[3][2]
• 1548 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as “the highest and most powerful”.^[10]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the adjective and the noun.^[9]
• 1899 – the Academy puts “holding supreme authority” first and gives the etymology.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sovereign: holding or exercising supreme and independent authority; of a nation, independent.^[4][15][1]
2. (colloquial) Very great, high or extraordinary; often an intensifier: Se llevó un susto soberano.^[4][15][1]

Noun

1. A monarch; the ruler of a state.^[4][15][1]
2. (dated) A gold coin of Britain, the sovereign.^[13][18]

Word family

• soberanía
• soberanear

Related words

• sobre
• soprano
• superior
• Latin super
• French souverain

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 277
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sobre
4. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. soberano
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8459
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. soberano
8. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. soberano
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 124
10. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1303
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 670
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 919
13. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 1003
14. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. soberano
15. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. soberano
16. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. soberano
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. soberano
18. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org