the worthless word for the day is: suzerainty

[F. suzeraineté] /SU zeh ren tee/
the dominion of a suzerain: overlordship

I love this word, tsuwm -- could you please parse its etymology?

http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/

OED merely comments: Appears first in Fr. or semi-Fr. form.; suggesting it appeared out of thin air.
W3, more helpfully, suggests it is related to sovereign.

A-H gives a goodly etymology of suzerain.

So, it is like Syria then?

Interesting. It made me think of 'substitute' with 'reign'.

Another scource gives: the word appeared first in English litterature, somewhere before 1010. I think the Emperor Charles V could be called a Suzerain. He was overlord, Emperor of a good number of 'domains':Spain,Austria, Germany, the Netherlands,meaning Holland and Belgium at that time.Maybe even some city states in Italy?
It was him and his son Philip II 'we' fought in the 80-years'war and got them out.
The word has a French ring to it :souverain. Could it have to do with soumettre ?- to subject to, or with sauver- save. Offering protection in exchange for fealty? Yes,I've always like that word too,suzerain, it makes me think of raspberry flavored candy.A sour-sweet word.
(could it be applied to any present ruler really?)(not the candy!)

Quote:

---

A-H gives a goodly etymology of suzerain.

---

Thanks. I should have checked. So it's cognate with sovereign.