suzerain

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 1878, Britain took Cyprus in "trust" from the declining Ottoman Empire and disregarded Cypriot demands for union with Greece on the grounds that the Sultan was still the suzerain.

From Time Magazine Archive

In four days at Philadelphia's Kelly Pool, nine world and 13 American records were demolished, and U.S. aquatic status soared to suzerain heights.

From Time Magazine Archive

Kreli, the Bomvana chief’s suzerain, came to hear of the slaying of the serpent, and his indignation waxed great when the seizure of the skull and gall by his vassal was reported to him.

From By Veldt and Kopje by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)

The English kings did, indeed, exercise some sort of suzerain authority over most of the neighbouring colonies, but this authority was probably never so complete as historians would have us believe.

From Canute the Great The Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age by Larson, Laurence Marcellus

Thus conceived as the holder of a great fief, the king had only the rights of suzerain over the four great baronies and the twelve minor fiefs of his kingdom.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various