Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English soverain (alteration by influence of reign) < Old French soverain < Vulgar Latin *superānus, equivalent to Latin super-super- + -ānus-an
late 13c., from O.Fr. soverain, from V.L. *superanus "chief, principal," from L. super "over" (see super-). Spelling influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. Milton spelled it sovran, as though from It. sovrano. Meaning "gold coin worth 22s 6d" first recorded