superlative

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English superlatif, also superlative,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman superlatif and Middle French superlatif,^[4][5] and directly borrowed from Late Latin superlātīvus (“exaggerated, hyperbolic; in the superlative degree”),^[4][3][2][6] from superlātus (“exaggerated, excessive”),^[3][7] used as the past participle of superferō (“to carry over or beyond”).^[3][8][7][9] The participle consists of super- (“beyond”) and the stem lāt-, for older *tlāt-.^[4][3] The OED, Etymonline, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford assign this stem to tollō (“to take away”),^{[4][3][10][9]} while Barnhart, Klein, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com call lātus the participle of ferō (“to bear, carry”).^{[6][7][8][11]} Klein and the American Heritage Dictionary take it back to Proto-Indo-European *telə- (“to bear”).^[7][12] In Old French the word is recorded from about 1170, in the form supellatif, of God as being above all.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the highest degree: about 1395, in Chaucer's Merchant's Tale: “Ther nys no thyng in gree superlatyf”.^[13][2][4] The OED and the MED read this as the general sense, supreme,^[4][2] while Barnhart and Weekley take it as the grammatical term.^[6][13] The OED's first clearly grammatical use is from about 1400.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word arrived as a grammatical term and a word of praise at about the same time.^[4][10] Its Latin source was already known to English grammar: Ælfric's Old English Grammar explains the Latin term and calls it the third degree of comparison.^[4] As a noun it is recorded from about 1434, again in grammar,^[4] although Barnhart first finds it in 1530, in Palsgrave.^[6] The extended uses come in the late 16th century, when the word could describe the highest degree of anything (1573), a person or thing excelling all others (1577), and the utmost point (1583).^[4] At the same time it took on a sense the Latin word also had, going to extremes: superlative meant hyperbolical from 1586,^[4][9] and superlatives were exaggerated expressions from 1597.^[4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "implying or expressing the highest degree" and quoted Watts on people who “pronounce concerning every thing in the superlative”.^[14] Grammarians later distinguished the absolute superlative (1730) from the relative (before 1733).^[4] Superlative surprise is a complicated method of change-ringing.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1395 – of the highest degree, in gree superlatyf, in Chaucer.^[4][2][6]
• c. 1400 – in grammar, of the form that expresses the highest degree.^[4][3]
• before 1430 – of a person or material thing: surpassing all others.^[4]
• c. 1434 – noun, the superlative degree or form.^[4] Barnhart dates the noun to 1530.^[6]
• 1573 – the highest degree, also in the superlative.^[4]
• 1577 – a person or thing surpassing all others.^[4]
• 1583 – the utmost point, the acme.^[4]
• 1586 – of language, exaggerated, hyperbolical.^[4][9]
• 1597 – an exaggerated expression; exaggerated language.^[4][3]
• 1730 – in grammar, the absolute superlative.^[4]
• before 1733 – in grammar, the relative superlative.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the highest quality or degree; supreme, excellent: a superlative violinist.^[15][4][9]
2. In grammar: denoting the form of an adjective or adverb that expresses the highest or a very high degree of a quality, in English usually with -est or most: the superlative form “brightest”.^[15][8][4]
3. Of language or style: excessive, hyperbolical.^[15][4]

Noun

1. In grammar: the superlative degree, or a word in that form.^[15][8][4]
2. Usually plural: an exaggerated expression, especially of praise: The reviewers ran out of superlatives.^[4][9]
3. A person or thing that excels all others.^[15][4]
4. the superlative: the highest or utmost degree of something; the acme.^[4][9]

Word family

• superlatively
• superlativeness
• unsuperlative

Related words

• super-
• tolerate
• extol
• bear

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster discusses the handbook rule against using a superlative of only two things, and cites Jane Austen, writing in 1796: “Miss Fletcher and I were very thick, but I am the thinnest of the two”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins