superpower

Etymology

It is formed from English super- + power.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED, revised in 2012, records the word from 1849, much earlier than Barnhart's 1922 and Dictionary.com's 1920–25.^[2][4][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exceptional or extraordinary power or ability: 1849, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates this sense to 1849.^[4] Barnhart's first record is D. H. Lawrence's Aaron's Rod (1922).^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the early 20th century the word was used in the United States for electric power produced by linking existing power plants into one network, a sense from 1912 that the Shorter Oxford now marks as historical;^[2][5] Etymonline finds such physical senses by 1909, also in radio broadcasting.^[3] The political sense, a nation with dominant power in world affairs, is recorded from 1911 in the OED.^[2] Etymonline notes that it was used of the League of Nations in 1932,^[3] and Merriam-Webster also has a sense of an international governing body able to enforce its will on the strongest nations.^[4] The geopolitical sense became current in 1944, with W. T. R. Fox's book The Super-Powers;^[7][3] the OED names the United States and, formerly, the Soviet Union as the chief examples.^[2] From 1945, in American comic books, a superpower was also a fictional superhuman ability, especially one possessed by a superhero.^[2]

Timeline

• 1849 – exceptional or extraordinary power or ability.^[2][4] Barnhart dates this sense to 1922.^[7]
• 1911 – a nation with dominant power in world politics.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date this sense to 1944.^[7][3]
• 1912 – electric power produced by interconnected power plants (chiefly American).^[2]
• 1945 – a fictional superhuman power, as of a superhero.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An extremely powerful nation with dominant influence in world politics: Two superpowers dominated the Cold War.^[9][4][2]
2. Exceptional or extraordinary power or ability.^[4][2]
3. A superhuman ability possessed by a fictional character, especially a superhero.^[2]
4. Very high electrical or mechanical power, especially power produced by linking existing power plants.^[9][2][5]

Word family

• superpowered

Related words

• power

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins