a sovereign or a state exercising political control over a dependent state.
2.
History/Historical. a feudal overlord.
–adjective
3.
characteristic of or being a suzerain.
Origin: 1800–10; < F, equiv. to sus above (< L sūsum, var. of sursum, contr. of subversum, neut. of subversus upturned; see sub-, verse) + (souv)erainsovereign
A nation that controls another nation in international affairs but allows it domestic sovereignty.
A feudal lord to whom fealty was due.
[French, from Old French suserain : probably sus, up (from Latin sūrsum, sūsum, upward, from *subsvorsum, turned upward : subs-, sub-, from under; see sub- + vorsum, neuter of vorsus, variant of versus, past participle of vertere, to turn; see versus) + souverein, sovereign; see sovereign.] su'ze·rain adj.
"sovereign, ruler," c.1470 (implied in suzerainty), from O.Fr. sus "up, above" (from V.L. susum, from L. sursum "upward, above," contraction of subversum, from sub "up from below") + vertere "a turning" (see versus). With ending from sovereign.