souverain French · revision 15761

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis, suverain|origins=la super}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /su.vʁɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''souverain''' (feminine souveraine, masculine plural souverains, feminine plural souveraines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''suverain'' (about 1050), ''soverain'' (1160–1170), ''souverain'' (12th century).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|soverain]], [[inh|la-vul|*superānus|t=upper; supreme]], derived from [[la|super|t=above]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Académie 9)^(FEW|12, 434a) The Latin word is not attested in classical texts but is found in Medieval Latin;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert speak of an adaptation of Medieval Latin “superanus”, from classical [[m|la|superus|t=upper]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) The same source gave [[it|soprano]], [[pro|sobiran]] (whence the surname Soubiran) and [[es|soberano]]^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935); Italian [[m|it|sovrano]] comes from French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) ''suverain'' means supreme, excellent, highest of its kind.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Souverain'' first described God, ''li suverains reis'' (early 12th century), and what belongs to his authority, then a person holding political power (1160–1170).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It also qualified whatever surpasses all others, as in ''souverain bien'' (about 1225), ''souverain remède'' “sovereign remedy” (1539) and ''souverain mépris''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ In law a ''cour souveraine'' judges without appeal (1405), and also from Charron (1601) an ''état souverain'' depends on no other power^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); ''souveraineté'' is from the 12th century.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) As a noun, ''souverain'' is a monarch (about 1175), and ''le souverain pontife'' the pope.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Suverain'' “supreme” (''Alexis'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * early 12th century – Of God (''Brendan'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1160–1170 – Of a ruler.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1175 – A monarch (noun).^(TLFi)

+ * 1405 – ''Souveraine cour'', a court without appeal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1539 – ''Souverain remède''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1601 – ''Estats souverains'' (Charron).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|sovereign|alt=Sovereign]], independent, subject to no other power: ''État souverain''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Supreme, highest in its kind: ''le souverain bien'', ''le souverain pontife''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(literary)'' Utmost, extreme: ''un souverain mépris''; very effective: ''un remède souverain''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|monarch]], a ruler.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[souveraineté]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[suzerain]]

+ * [[soprano]]

+ * [[en|sovereign]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Souverain'' as the name of the English gold coin (1829) is a separate word, adapted from [[en|sovereign]], which itself came from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Académie 9)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}