French Conversation · Level 38
75 words
French word
souveraineté
Pronunciation
IPA/suvəʁɛnəte/
Meaning
- feminine nounsovereignty
Example
La souveraineté appartient au peuple.
Sovereignty belongs to the people.
More examples
Perdre la souveraineté peut rendre un État dépendant d'autres pays.
Losing sovereignty can make a state dependent on other countries.
Core concept
The authority that leaves no higher political power above a state or its people.
Similar words
gouvernement: The body of people and institutions that manages a country and implements policy.
État: An organized political community with a territory, population, laws, and governing institutions.
pouvoir: The capacity to decide, command, or influence what others do.
autorité: The recognized right to issue commands and expect compliance.
Definition in French
Pouvoir suprême d'un État ou d'un peuple pour établir et faire respecter les lois.
Word origin
Souveraineté is formed from the French adjective souverain, "supreme," with the suffix -eté used to form an abstract noun, and souverain comes from Latin superanus.
Usage tips
- The common construction is la souveraineté appartient à, as in la souveraineté appartient au peuple, with appartient à introducing its holder.
Other meanings
- governing powernoun
- supreme authoritynoun
Opposites
- dépendancedependencenoun
- subordinationsubordinationnoun