superb

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /suːˈpɜːb/, /sjuːˈpɜːb/, US /səˈpɝːb/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin superbus (“grand, proud, splendid, haughty”),^[2][3][4] perhaps partly through French superbe,^[5][6] from super, above (see super-),^[2][3][4] with a second element perhaps from the root meaning “to be” (see be),^[2][3][4] so literally “being above”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of buildings and monuments, imposing or magnificent: 1549.^[2][7][4][8]

Semantic evolution

Proud or haughty, following the Latin, is an obsolete sense of 1654.^[7][8] Grandly equipped or decorated is from before 1700,^[7] and in the names of brightly coloured birds and plants from 1760.^[3][7] The sense of very fine, excellent, is found before 1729, in Congreve,^[2][7] and in general use from the early 18th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1549 – magnificent (of buildings).^[2][7]
• 1654 – proud (obsolete).^[7]
• before 1729 – excellent.^[2][7]
• 1760 – in names of species.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of very high quality; excellent.
2. Grand or imposing; majestic.
3. Rich and luxurious.

Word family

• superbly
• superbness

Related words

• super-
• superior

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press