Search the Dictionary

n of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals.

An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth, struck for the use of the East India Company; -- so called from its bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.

ies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate; wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions. When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matt. xix. 22. Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. Acts v. 1. The house of Jacob shall possess their po…

to his own country, and his former privileges, of a person who had gone to sojourn in a foreign country, or had been banished, or taken by an enemy. Burrill.

Sovereignty. [Obs.]

One who is potent; one who possesses great power or sway; a prince, sovereign, or monarch. The blessed and only potentate. 1 Tim. vi. 15. Cherub and seraph, potentates and thrones. Milton.

and equal in value to about $4.86. There is no coin known by this name, but the gold sovereign is of the same value.

a habit. They shall practice how to live secure. Milton. Practice first over yourself to reign. Waller.

The offense of introducing foreign authority into England, the penalties for which were originally intended to depress the civil power of the pope in the kingdom.

One who reigns before another; a sovereign predecessor. [R.] Warner.

ies of an individual; person; personality; especially, the person of a superior, as a sovereign. The Sovran Presence thus replied. Milton.

f the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue. Blackstone.

The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; -- originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female. Wyclif (Rev. i. 5). Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. Milton. Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex. Camden.

The jurisdiction, sovereignty, rank, or estate of a prince. Thrones, princedoms, powers, dominions, I reduce. Milton.

A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. Dryden. So excellent a princess as the present queen. Swift.

Sovereignty; supreme power; hence, superiority; predominance; high, or the highest, station. Sir P. Sidney. Your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory. Jer. xiii. 18. The prerogative and principality above everything else. Jer. Taylor.

An armed private vessel which bears the commission of the sovereign power to cruise against the enemy. See Letters of marque, under Marque.

n a royal residence. [Eng.] -- Privy council (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen. Burrill. -- Privy councilor, a member of the privy council. -- Privy purse, moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the…

A journey of state; a circuit; especially, one made by a sovereign through parts of his own dominions. The king being returned from his progresse. Evelyn.

One who favors prohibitory duties on foreign goods in commerce; a protectionist.