suzerain

[ soo-zuh-rin, -reyn ]

noun

1. a sovereign or a state exercising political control over a dependent state.
2. History/Historical. a feudal overlord.

adjective

1. characteristic of or being a suzerain.

suzerain

/ ˈsuːzəˌreɪn /

noun

1. 1. a state or sovereign exercising some degree of dominion over a dependent state, usually controlling its foreign affairs
   2. ( as modifier )

      a suzerain power

2. 1. a feudal overlord
   2. ( as modifier )

      suzerain lord

Word History and Origins

Origin of suzerain¹

1800–10; < French, equivalent to sus above (< Latin sūsum, variant of sursum, contraction of subversum, neuter of subversus upturned; sub-, verse ) + ( souv ) erain sovereign

Word History and Origins

Origin of suzerain¹

C19: from French, from sus above (from Latin sursum turned upwards, from sub- up + vertere to turn) + -erain , as in souverain sovereign

Example Sentences

“Even now, in the 21st century, some U.S. officials and elites still deep in their hearts know and understand the world through the framework of the suzerain and its colonies.”

From New York Times

Now that she has seen two of Leandro’s children, she can imagine exactly what he, the absent father, is like: his aristocratic height; his useless blond beauty; his addict’s vacant face; his idle concupiscence; his suzerain’s habit, bred in the bone, of taking whatever he wants; his ruthless indifference to everything that isn’t the chemical in his veins.

From The New Yorker

The new disc features thrashers like “You Gotta Believe,” which instantly transports you back to the mid-‘80s, the burning metal of “Monster at the End” and the all-out attitude of “Suzerain.”

From Washington Times

This is only a slight correction of the regime’s principal course of action, which Higher School of Economics professor Simon Kordonsky describes as “the suzerain takes care of his people—the amalgamation of estates—by distributing resources in a way that ensures that the privileged estates don’t get too brazen and the underprivileged ones don’t die from hunger.”

From Newsweek

The Residence of the Suzerain One of the story's principal villains, The Suzerain, resides in the building we know as All Souls College.

From BBC

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