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An officer in the household of the British sovereign, who has cognizance of transgressions within the royal household and verge, and of contracts made there, a member of the household being one of the parties. Wharton.

aw itself is nothing else but reason. Coke. Law is beneficence acting by rule. Burke. And sovereign Law, that state's collected will O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. Sir W. Jones.

ing making (Scots Law), the uttering of lies or libels upon the personal character of the sovereign, his court, or his family. Bp. Burnet.

Any crime committed against the sovereign power.

ef, and would as lief; as, I had, or would, as lief go as not. All women liefest would Be sovereign of man's love. Gower. I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Shak. Far liefer by his dear hand had I die. Tennyson.

Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. Chaucer. She looked as grand as doomsday and as grave; And he, he reverenced his liege lady there. Tennyson.

The connection between sovereign and subject by which they were mutually bound, the former to protection and the securing of justice, the latter to faithful service; allegiance. [Written also ligeancy and liegance.] Chaucer.

e lawful authority; faithful and true to the lawful government; faithful to the prince or sovereign to whom one is subject; unswerving in allegiance. Welcome, sir John ! But why come you in arms -To help King Edward in his time of storm, As every loyal subject ought to do. Shak.

A person who adheres to his sovereign or to the lawful authority; especially, one who maintains his allegiance to his prince or government, and defends his cause in times of revolt or revolution.

Mastery; powerful medical influence; renowned efficacy; a sovereign remedy. [Obs.] Holland.

Commanded or prescribed by a magister, esp. by a doctor; hence, effectual; sovereign; as, a magistral sirup. "Some magistral opiate." Bacon.

and magistrates." Book of Com. Prayer. Of magistrates some also are supreme, in whom the sovereign power of the state resides; others are subordinate. Blackstone.

A sovereign prince in India; -- a title given also to other persons of high rank.

The dignity and authority of sovereign power; quality or state which inspires awe or reverence; grandeur; exalted dignity, whether proceeding from rank, character, or bearing; imposing loftiness; stateliness; -- usually applied to the rank and dignity of sovereigns. The Lord reigneth; he is clothed with majesty. Ps. xc…

A public declaration, usually of a prince, sovereign, or other person claiming large powers, showing his intentions, or proclaiming his opinions and motives in reference to some act done or contemplated by him; as, a manifesto declaring the purpose of a prince to begin war, and explaining his motives. Bouvier. it was p…

ervant. (b) The owner of a slave. (c) The person to whom an apprentice is articled. (d) A sovereign, prince, or feudal noble; a chief, or one exercising similar authority. (e) The head of a household. (f) The male head of a school or college. (g) A male teacher. (h) The director of a number of persons performing a cere…

e former German empire of a smaller German state to a larger, while allowing it a nominal sovereignty, and its prince his rank. The misfortune of being a mediatized prince. Beaconsfield.

The popular designation of the hereditary sovereign of Japan.

One to whom the sovereign or executive head of a government intrusts the management of affairs of state, or some department of such affairs. Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man. Bacon.

issive, letters conveying the permission, comand, or advice of a superior authority, as a sovereign. They are addressed and sent to some certain person or persons, and are distinguished from letters patent, which are addressed to the public.