superior

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /suːˈpɪə.ri.ə/, /sjuːˈpɪə.ri.ə/, US /səˈpɪr.i.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English superiour, borrowed from Old French superior, superiour,^[2][3][4] from Latin superior (“higher”), the comparative of superus “situated above, upper”, from super “above”,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *uper (“over”).^[2] It is related to super-, supreme and over.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Higher in position, situated above: 1390 in the OED, before 1393 in Gower's Confessio Amantis in Barnhart.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

In old names of lands it could mean “more northern”, from the late 14th century.^[2] Higher in rank or dignity is from the late 15th century (1485 in the OED),^[2][7] and of a higher nature or kind from the 1530s.^[2][7] Greater in quality or amount is from 1579.^[7] The noun, a person of higher rank, is from the early 15th century,^[2][3][6] and Father or Mother Superior from 1706.^[7] The French sense “upper” survives in the name of Lake Superior, a translation of French Lac Supérieur.^[2] Superiority is from about 1475.^[3]

Timeline

• 1390 – higher in position.^[7]
• early 15th century – noun, a superior.^[2]
• 1485 – higher in rank.^[7]
• 1533 – of a higher nature.^[7]
• 1579 – greater in quality.^[7]
• 1706 – Mother Superior.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Better than average or better than others.
2. Higher in rank or authority.
3. Greater in number or amount: superior forces.
4. Showing that one thinks oneself better than others; haughty.
5. (printing) Written above the line, as a figure.

Noun

1. A person of higher rank, especially at work.
2. The head of a religious community.

Word family

• superiority
• superiorly
• unsuperior
• superior court
• superior general
• superior planet
• superior vena cava
• mother superior

Related words

• super-
• supreme
• over

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 i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press