suzerain (suzeran)

[OF. (and F.) suze rain, sovereign but not supreme; seigneur su zerain, a lord who holds a fief of which other fiefs are held, or who has exclusive jurisdiction (Roque fort); appar. formed, in imitation of suverain, soverein, etc., sovereign (with which Roque fort in fact identifies it), with term. -er- ain (as if "My lord," she replied, still undismayed, "I am before my Suzerain , and, I trust, a just one." Scott, Quentin Durward, xxxv. This prince, whether led by border enmity, by loyalty to his suzerain , or by preference to one domestic tie over another, had joined the call of King Henry to an invasion. E. A. Freeman , Norman Conquest, III. 91. In 1459 the illegitimate pretender, James II., did homage to the Sultan of Egypt as suzerain of Cyprus. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 164. Certain institutions of a primitive people, their corporations and village communities, will always be preserved by a suzerain state governing them, on account of the facilities which they afford to civil and fiscal administration. Maine , Village Communities, p. 236. suzerainty (sū'ze-ran-ti), n. [OF. suzerainete , F. suzeraineté , the office or jurisdiction of a suzerain, suzerain , suzerain: see suzerain .) The office or dignity of a suzerain; feudal supremacy; superior authority or command. When Philip August us began his reign, his dominions were much le extensive than those of the English king, over whom his suzerainty was merely nominal. Brougham. No one would think of dignifying the heterogeneous ma of Arabs, Kopts, Kurds, Slavs, and Greeks who acknowledge the suzerainty of the Sultan with the name of a nation. Contemporary Rev., LIII. 85. So its [the sovereign power's] character of nominal su zerainty is exchanged for that of absolute sovereignty. Stubbs, Const. Hist., § 2. s. v. An abbreviation of sub voce, under the word: used in referring to articles in glo aries and dictionaries.