sovereignty 
being exerted. . . . The Sovereign, if a single person, i - 
or should he called a Monarch ; if a small group, the name 
is an Oligarchy ; if a group of considerable dimensions, 
an Aristocracy ; it very large and numerous, a Democracy 
Miiiiu; Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 34!. 
Much is said about the sovereignty of the States 
What is sovereignty in the political sense of the term? 
Would it be far wrong to define it ' a political community 
without a political superior"? Tested by this, no one 
State, except Texas, ever was a sovereignty. 
Lincoln, in Raymond, p. 146. 
The chief attributes of sovereignty with which the states 
have parted are the coining of money, the carrying of 
mails, the imposing of tariff dues, the granting of patents 
and copyrights, the declaration of war, and the mainte- 
nance of a navy. J. Fiske, Amer. Pol. Ideas, p. 98. 
() A state, community, or political unit possessing inde- 
pendent power. 
The late colonies had but recently become compactly 
organized self-governing States, and were standing some- 
what stiffly apart, a group of consequential sovereignties, 
jealous to maintain their blood-bought prerogatives, and 
quick to distrust any power set above them, or arrogating 
to itself the control of their restive wills. 
W. Wilson, Cong. Gov., I. 
(/t) Supremacy in excellence ; supreme excellence. 
Fie, tie, unreverend tongue ! to call her bad 
Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferr'd 
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths. 
Shalt., Tt. G. of V.,ii. 6. 15. 
</) Efficacy ; especially, medicinal efficacy. 
My father left me some prescriptions 
Of rare and proved effects, such as his reading 
And manifest experience had collected 
For general sovereignty. Shak., All's Well,'!. 3. 230. 
Popular sovereignty. See popular. Sovereignty of 
Opd, in theol., Goo's absolute dominion over all created 
things. Squatter sovereignty. Same as popular sov- 
ereignty. (Colloq., U. 8.] 
This letter [Gen. Cass on Wilmot Proviso] is notable as 
the first clear enunciation of the doctrine termed Popular 
(otherwise Squatter) Sovereignty that is, of the lack of 
legitimate power in the Federal Government to exclude 
Slavery from its territories. 
H. Qreeley, Amer. Conflict, I. 190. 
sovran (suv'- or sov'ran), a. and w. [A modi- 
fied form of sovereign, in imitation of the It. 
sovrano: see sovereign. It was first used by 
Milton, and has been affected by later poets.] 
Same as sovereign. 
Since he 
Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid 
What shall be right Hilton, P. L., i. 246. 
SOVranty (suv'- or soy'ran-ti), w. [A modified 
form of sovereignty, in imitation of sovran.] 
Same as sovereignty. 
God's gift to us of sovranty. 
Mrs. Browning, Drama of Exile. 
SOW 1 (so), r. ; pret. sowed, pp. sown or sowed, 
ppr. sowing. [< ME. sowen, souwen, sawen (pret. 
sew, siew, seow, sewe, sen, pi. sewen, seowen, pp. 
sowen, sowe, sawen), < AS. sdwan (pret. sedw, 
pp. sawen) = OS. saian, sehan = OFries. sea 
= MD. saeyen, D. zamjen = MLG. LG. saien = 
OHG. saian, sawen, sden, MHG. ssejen, seen, G. 
saen = Icel. sd = Sw. sa = Dan. saa = Goth. 
saian, sow ; cf . W. kait, sow ; OBulg. sieti, sieyati 
= Serv. siyati = Bohem. siti = Russ. sieyati = 
Lith. seti = Lett, set = L. tf se, in serere (for 
"sesere, redupl. pres., with simple perf. sevi, pp. 
satus), sow; < y sa, sow, orig. prob. cast, cf. 
Skt. sasya, grain. Hence sower, seed, etc., and 
(< L.) semen, seminary, seminate, disseminate, 
etc., sative, sation, season, etc.] I. trans. \. 
To scatter, as seed upon the earth, for the pur- 
pose of growth ; plant by strewing. 
In my saule thou sane thl sede, 
That I may, lorde, make myne auaunt. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 107. 
Whatsoever a man souvt/i. that shall he also reap. 
Gal. vi. 7. 
2. To scatter seed over for growth ; supply or 
stock with seed. 
It were a gode Contree to sowen inne Thristelle and 
Brercs and Broom and Thornes ; and for no other thing is 
It not good. Mandeville, Travels, p. 130. 
And the same hand that sow'd shall reap the field. 
Pope, Messiah, 1. 66. 
3. To scatter over; besprinkle; spangle: as, 
a velvet pall sown with golden bees. 
God . . . form'd the moon, . . . 
And sow'd with stars the heaven, thick as a field. 
Milton, P. L., vii. 358. 
Another [cottage] wore 
A close-set robe of jasmine sown with stars. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
4. To spread abroad; cause to extend; dis- 
seminate; propagate: as, to sow discord. 
Why, nothing can he baser than to sow 
Dissention amongst lovers. 
11,/in. and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, iii. 1. 
To have hemp-seed sown for one. See hemp-seed. 
To sow one's wild oats. See oat. 
II. intrans. To scatter seed for growth and 
the production of a crop. 
5780 
They that < In tears shall reap In joy. !>s. cxxvl. ft. 
Peace was awhile their can-. n,,. v pimiuli'd and 
Coieper, Task 
sow- (sou), H. and a. [< ME. sowe, <, MMM, 
soghe, < AS. KUI/U, contracted .v, = Ml). .,/// . 
soegli, D. -,/, :,>,,, = MLG. soge, I.e. ./. 
-</< = OHG. MHG. sit, G. ( = led. *,/,' = 
Sw. xugga, so = Dan. si, = W. AircA (> 10. '//', 
q. v.) = Ir. siii;/ = L. sun = Gr. if, <rf>f, a s<>\\. 
swine, = Zend Aw, a boar; prob. no called from 
its prolific nature, < v/* (Bkt. V), geiior.-it. . 
produce: sec xw'. See xirim; .HI/HI, xoiP, hog*. 
In the sense of 'a large mass of metal,' see 
K'/ 1 -] I. . 1. An adult female hog; the fe- 
male of swine. 
This sow had halfe her body covered with hard bristly 
halre as other Pigges. Coryat, Crudities, I. 113. 
2. A sow-bug. 
Also geve hym of these sowes that crepe with many 
fete, and falle oute of howce rovys. Alsogeve hym whyte 
wormes that breede betwene the barke and the tre. 
MS. Lambeth 306, f. 177. (HaUiwett.) 
Some of the Onlscidee are land animals, and are known 
as hog-lice, sows, etc. Paseoe, Zottl. Claw., p. 84. 
3. In metal., the metal which has solidified in 
the common channel or feeder through which 
the molten iron flows from the blast-furnace 
into a series of parallel grooves or furrows, 
which are the "pigs" appertaining to the sow, 
and the iron from which bears the name of pig- 
iron, or simply pig: used also of other metals. 
It is the manner (right woorshipfnll) of such as seeke 
profit by minerall, first to set men on woorke to dlgge and 
gather the owre ; then by fire to trie out the metall, and to 
cast it into certeine rude lumpes, which they call sowze. 
Lambarde, Perambulation (ed. 1696), Pref. (UalliweU.) 
For the strengthening of his nerves or sinews, they 
made him two great sown of lead, each of them weighing 
eight thousand and seven hundred quintals. . . . Those 
he took up from the ground, in each hand one. 
Urquhart, tr. of Rabelais, I. 23. 
4t. A military engine consisting of a movable 
roof arranged to protect men handling a batter- 
ing-ram. Compare rinea, also ca<and cat-castle. 
Old sow. See old. To have, take, or get the right 
(or wrong) sow by the ear, to pitch upon the right (or 
wrong) person or thing ; come to the right (or wrong) con- 
clusion. [Low.] 
He has the wrong sow by the ear, i' faith ; and claps his 
dish at the wrong man's door. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, II. 1. 
You have a wrong sow by the ear. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. iii. 580. 
II. (t. Female : applied to fish : as, a sow hake. 
See sawfish, under fish 1 . 
SOW 3 t, v. An obsolete spelling of sew 1 . 
sowa (so'a), n. See soya. 
sowans (so'anz), n. pi. Same as sowens. 
sowar (so-ar'), n. [Also snwar; < Hind, sawdr, 
< Pers. sawdr, a horseman.] A horse-soldier; 
especially, a native cavalry soldier in the Brit- 
ish-Indian army, often in the sense of an orderly 
or mounted attendant or guard. 
In the cavalry of the Madras army the horses are pro- 
vided by Government, but in that of Bengal and Bombay 
the trooper, or sowar, as he is designated In India, finds 
himself in everything except his arms. 
y. A. Rev., CXXVII. 145. 
SOWback (sou'bak), n. A low ridge of sand or 
gravel; a hogback or horseback; a kame; a 
drum or drumlin. 
The long parallel ridges, or "sowbaclcs" and "drums," 
as they are termed, . . . invariably coincide In direction 
with the valleys or straths in which they lie. 
J. Oeikie, Great Ice Age, p. 17. 
sowbane (sou'ban), n. The maple-leaved goose- 
foot, Chenopodium hybridum, regarded as fatal 
to swine. Also called hog's-bane. 
SOW-belly (sou'beFi), . Salt pork; salt-horse; 
salt-junk: used by fishermen, whalers, sailors, 
andsoldiers. [Low.] Sow-belly hake. SeeAa*e2. 
sowbread (sou'bred), . A plant of the genus 
Cyclamen, particularly C. Europieum. The species 
are low stemless herbs sending up leaves and scapes from 
corms which are sometimes very large, and, where native, 
are sought after by swine. The flowers are rose-colored, 
pink, or white, nodding, the divisions of the corolla re- 
flexed, and are cultivated for ornament, the best-known 
species being C. Europsfum, hardy in southern Europe and 
England, and the more tender and showy C. Persifum. 
SOW-bug (sou'bug), n. A hog-louse; a pill-bug; 
a sow ; any terrestrial isopod of the family Onis- 
cidse, as Oniscus asellus. Some sow-bugs can 
roll themselves up into a ball like a tiny arma- 
dillo. See sow 2 , n., 2, and cut under Oniscus. 
SOWCet. An obsolete form of souse 1 , souse*. 
sowdant, . An obsolete variant of sultan. 
Cliitucer. 
sowdanesset, sowdannesset, Obsolete va- 
riants of sultriness. 
SOW-drunk (sou'drungk), a. Drunk as a sow; 
beastly drunk. [Prov. Eng.] 
sow-thistle 
a ilrnniik that dm u, h dry 'at to the 
Siiuin-. ,./,*,, wtln-rn cobbler. 
SOWdwortt, ". All cilisoletc form ,,f (ft) 
"III hull'', .-ll-.il !l]l]ilie<l In till- riillllllllinc, 
.iljlllll I/Ill fill, III' 
SOWel, ii. Siunc 
sowens (W>'en . 
n obscm-e; cf..-w--. | 1. A nutritious article 
i.l I'.ioil inailc I'l-iun tin- farina remaining;!!' 
the husks of oiits, much useil in Scotlan.il 
formerly in Northumberland, Tin- iiu*k(i-aii<-d in 
Scotland teedi or Mi), after being sepanit. .1 M m the oat- 
meal by the sieve, still retain a coiwlili -r;il,li- |,iti..n uf 
farinaceous matter. A quantity of the husks is steeped In 
water till the farinaceous matter U dissolved, and until 
the liquid has become sour. The whole Is then put into 
a sieve, which allows the milky liquid t.i paxx through Intu 
a barn I ><i otlur \iel. but retains the husks. The itati -h> 
niattrr i:r;i'tu:illy subsides to the iHittom uf the barrel. I h- 
sour liquor Is then decanted off, fresh water Is stirred Into 
the deposit that is left, and the mixture, when boiled, 
forms sowens. In England it It more commonly called 
flummery. The singular form tuwen Is used attributively 
or in < 'impounds: as, a <ouvn-tub. 
These Mimiit, that is, flummery, l>cing blended together, 
produce good yeast. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
As U It were any matter . . . whether a pleughman had 
supplt on minchcd pies or sour soirtiif. 
Scott, Old Mortality, vll. 
2. A kind of paste employed by weavers for 
stiffening their yarn in working. 
[Scotch and prov. Eng. in both senses.] 
sower 1 (so'er), n. [< ME. sower, savsere. < AS. 
sawere, a sower, < sdican, sow: see oc*.] 1. 
One who sows or scatters seed. 
Behold, a sower went forth to sow. Mat xiil. 3. 
2. That which sows seed; a sowing-machine. 
3. One who scatters or spreads; a dissemi- 
nator ; a breeder ; a promoter. 
They are the sowers of suits, which make the court 
swell, and the country pine. Bacon. 
Terming Panl ... a lower of words, a very babbler or 
trifler. HakewOl. 
SOWer' 2 t, " An obsolete spelling of sewer 1 . 
sower 3 t, (i. An obsolete spelling of sour 1 . 
sow-fennel (sou'fen"el), . See fennel. 
SOW-gelder (sou'gel'der), i. One who spays 
sows. 
First, he that led the cavalcate 
Wore a sow-gelder's flagellate Ihorn]. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. II. 610. 
SOWiet (sou'i), N. Same as soic%, 4. 
They laid their soviet to the wall. 
Auld MaMand (Child's Ballads, VI. 222). 
sowing (so'ing), H. [Verbal n. of sow 1 , c.] 1. 
The act of one who sows or scatters seed. 2. 
That which is sowed. 
You could not keep the birds out of the garden, try how 
you would. They had most of the sou-ings up. 
The Century, XXXVI. 815. 
SOWing-machine (so'ing-ma-shen'), w. In 
agri. : (a) A hand or horse-power seed-plant- 
ing machine. (6) A broadcast sower. The hand- 
machines consist of a simple mechanism turned by a 
crank, which scatters the seed in a cloud In every direc- 
tion. It is carried in one hand and operated by the other. 
sowins (so'inz), M. pi. See sowens. 
sowkert, " An obsolete form of sucker. 
SOWlt, sowle't. Obsolete forms of soul 1 , sole 6 . 
sowle 2 , . Same as soup. 
SOWm, and v. See soum. 
sown 1 (son). A past participle of sotc 1 . 
sown 2 t, sownet, " and v. Obsolete forms of 
sound 5 . 
sown 3 t, " and '' An obsolete form of swoon. 
SOWpt, n. An obsolete form of soup?. 
SOWSet. An obsolete spelling of souse 1 , souse?. 
sowskin (sou'skin), H. See nogskin. 
sowstert, Same as sewster. Halliwell. 
SOWteget, . See sontage. 
sowtert, sowterlyt. Obsolete forms of souter, 
souterly. 
SOWth 1 t, and a. An obsolete spelling of south. 
SOWth 2 (south), f. [Appar. a var. of souch, 
sough 1 ."] I, intrans. To whistle softly. [Scotch.] 
II. trans. To try over, as a tune, with a low 
whistle. [Scotch.] 
On braes when we please, then, 
Well sit an' soicth a tune; . . . 
An' sing 't when we ha'e dune. 
Burns, First Epistle to Davie. 
SOWther, ". Same as souther?. Halliwell. 
SOW-thistle (sou'this'l), . [< ME. soictliyxtill. 
< AS. sugethistel, < sttgu, sow, + thistel, thistle. 
In ME. also called swines thistell."] A plant of 
the genus Sonchus, primarily S. oleraeeus, a weed 
of waste places, probably native in Europe and 
central Asia, but now diffused nearly all over 
the world. It Is a smooth herb with a milky Juice, bear- 
ing runcinate-pinnatifld leaven and rather small yellow 
flower-heads. A similar plant, but with less divided spiny 
