Words / C1

SOVR-uh-ntee/ˈsɒvrənti/

Sovereignty is a state’s power to govern itself: national sovereignty, pooled sovereignty. Independence is everyday; autonomy (already in the dictionary) can be an institution’s self-rule. Sovereign is the adjective or a monarch. Do not use sovereignty for a teenager’s bedroom rules.

Meaning

The power of a state to govern itself without outside control.

Examples

• “The treaty was sold as a pooling of sovereignty, not a loss of it.”
• “The treaty was sold as pooled sovereignty, which still needs a plain gloss in an essay.”
• “A sovereign state claims sovereignty; a campus’s autonomy is a smaller, different scale.”

Good to know

A state’s right to rule itself. Adjective/monarch: sovereign. Everyday: independence. Institution cousin: autonomy. Not household rules.

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