Etymologically
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superior

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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

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