supremacy
(s(j)uːˈprɛməsɪ)
Also 6 supremasie, -isie, 6–7 -acie, -icie, 7 -acye, supreamacie, 8 supreamacy.
[f. supreme a. + -acy 2. Hence F. suprématie, It. supremazia, Sp., Pg. supremacia.]
1. The condition of being supreme in authority, rank, or power; position of supreme or highest authority or power. a. with reference to the position of the sovereign (royal supremacy or regal supremacy) as supreme head in earth of the Church of England (as declared in the statute 26 Hen. VIII, c. 1, an. 1534), or as supreme governor of England in spiritual and temporal matters (as in 1 Eliz. c. 1, an. 1558–9). Also used retrospectively of the more indefinite authority claimed by earlier sovereigns.
Act of Supremacy (or Supremacy Act), any of the acts of parliament in which this is laid down. Oath of (the King's) Supremacy, the oath in which this is acknowledged.
| 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Ord. Deacons, The Othe of the Kynges Supremacie. I from henceforth shal utterly renounce..the Bysshop of Rome, and his aucthoritie, power, and iurisdiction... And I from hencefoorth wyll..take the Kynges Maiestie, to be the onely Supreme head in earth, of the Church of Englande. 1554 Act 1 & 2 Philip & M. c. 8. §42 Albeit the Title or Stile of Supremacye or Supreme Hedd of the Churche of Englande and of Irelande..never was..lawfully attributed..to any King..of this Realme. 1603 Const. & Canons Eccles. ii, Whosoeuer shall hereafter..impeach in any part his [the King's] regal Supremacy in the said causes [ecclesiastical] restored to the Crowne. 1626 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 243 All three of them have taken the Oath of Allegiance, some say of Supremacy also. 1710 Managers' Pro & Con 62 If the Party will allow the Queen her Supreamacy. 1769 Blackstone Comm. iv. 53 The statute 1 W. & M. st. 2. c. 18..which exempts all dissenters..from all penal laws relating to religion, provided they take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. I. 103 [William the Conqueror] asserted his royal supremacy over the clergy of England. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 664/2 Sir Thomas More and Fisher..were executed for refusing to accept the Supremacy Act (1535). 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 701/1 Statutes of Charles II. and George I. enacted that no member should vote or sit in either house of parliament without having taken the several oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration. |
b. with reference to the supreme authority of the see or bishop of Rome (papal supremacy).
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 222 Those places of scripture, which the Bishop [of Rome] doeth vsurpe to establyshe hys supremacie [orig. ad sui primatus confirmationem]. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. 1. Pref., So that no man lift vp hys fynger agaynst the supremicie of the Apostolike sea. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 132 So long as he acknowledgeth the Popes Supremacie. 1714 J. Fortescue-Aland Pref. Fortescue's Abs. & Lim. Mon. 69 Possibly Rome had not then resolved to derive her Supremacy from St. Peter. 1757 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 189 The learned Bossuett makes it an article of faith, the Supremacy of y⊇ pope, as does the Councill of Trent. |
c. gen. in the relation of one person, sovereign, state, etc. to another, or of God to the universe.
| 1547 Tonstall in Burnet Hist. Ref. (1681) II. i. Collect. Rec. 107, I fortuned to find many Writings for the Supremacy of the King to the Realm of Scotland. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus i. 31 Determining to atchieue y⊇ supremisie. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 109 Peace it boads, and loue, and quiet life, An awfull rule, and right supremicie. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. xii. §5. 150 They (who had beene accustomed vnto such a supremacie, as they would in no wise communicate with..Athens..). 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 205 Man disobeying..sinns Against the high Supremacie of Heav'n. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. i. 150 The divine being cannot give his own supremacy. 1835 Thirlwall Greece viii. I. 291 The steps by which Sparta rose to a supremacy above the rest of the Dorian states. 1847 Prescott Peru (1850) II. 170 The Indian lords then tendered their obeisance..after which the royal notary read aloud the instrument asserting the supremacy of the Castilian Crown. 1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation iv. (1852) 74 A supremacy over them [sc. the inferior creatures], had been the result of Adam's likeness to their Creator. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith vi. §4. 354 Revelation exhibits..the Supremacy of God. |
d. With possessive as a mock title.
| 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 14 Truth, so please your supremacy, has been sunk in..a well. |
e. fig. Said of qualities, influences, etc.
| 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus G iij, I giue you the supremasie of my soule, vse it as you list. 1663 Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxxii. (1687) 387 It suffers reason to retain its throne, or rather exalts..its Supremacy..to a greater height. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend i. vi. (1865) 25 The disbelief of essential wisdom and goodness..prepares the imagination for the supremacy of cunning with malignity. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §4. 133 Abelard claimed for reason the supremacy over faith. |
2. Supreme position in achievement, character, or estimation.
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 35 Iuno for maiestie, Pallas for wisedome, and Venus for beautie had let my Samela haue the supremacie. 1693 Dryden Juvenal Ded. (1697) p. viii, That your Lordship is form'd by Nature for this Supremacy, I cou'd easily prove..from the distinguishing Character of your Writing. 1836 Hor. Smith Tin Trumpet (1876) 335 The discovery that water would resist being boiled above 212 degrees has conferred upon England its manufacturing supremacy. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 250 To secure the naval supremacy of Athens over the rest of the Greek states. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. iii. 154 English gunpowder has long held almost undisputed supremacy as to excellence of quality and strength. |