Etymologically
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superstition

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌs(j)uː.pə(ɹ)ˈstɪ.ʃən/, /ˌs(j)u.pə(ɹ)ˈstɪ.ʃn̩/[1]
  • US: /ˌs(j)u.pɚˈstɪ.ʃən/, /ˌs(j)u.pɚˈstɪ.ʃn̩/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English supersticion,[2][3][4] also supersticioun,[5] borrowed from Middle French supersticion, superstition,[6][7][3] and directly borrowed from Latin superstitiō (“irrational religious awe, excessive fear of the gods”),[6][5][7] from superstes (“standing over; surviving”),[6][2][7] from superstō (“to stand on or over; to survive”),[5][7][8] formed from super (“above”) and stō (“to stand”),[5][9] from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”), the root of stand.[5][2][9] The Middle French word is recorded from before 1359 for unorthodox or heretical religious belief,[6] and the Anglo-Norman from the early 14th century.[10] The Latin word is the source also of Spanish superstición, Portuguese superstição and Italian superstizione.[6] In Old English the Latin word was glossed Old English æfgælþ.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An action marked by superfluity or excess: about 1230, in a passage of the Ancrene Riwle that has no equivalent in the earlier Cleopatra manuscript or in the Anglo-Norman version.[6] Barnhart, dating the word probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle, gives it the sense of a false or irrational religious belief or practice.[7]

Semantic evolution

Why the Latin word meant what it did is unclear.[6][5] Cicero thought that superstitious people were so called because they prayed that their children might survive (superstites essent), but the OED takes this as a folk etymology; in late antiquity, as in Isidore, such practices were explained as superfluous.[6] The OED also cites the suggestion that superstes was used of a soldier standing over a fallen enemy, so that superstitiō first meant superiority and then prophecy and sorcery.[6] Etymonline reports De Vaan's view that the sense is "cause to remain in existence" and Buck's that it meant standing stunned in awe,[5] and Ayto likewise thinks of someone standing over something in awe or fear.[9] Weekley found none of the theories convincing.[11] In English the early sense of excess soon gave way to religious ones:[12][6] irrational belief based on fear or ignorance (from about 1384, in the Wycliffite Bible), a false or pagan religion (about 1425) and a single irrational rite or practice.[6] Belief in supernatural influences on luck appears in 1609, in Shakespeare's Pericles,[6][12] and the weakened sense of any irrational or mistaken notion, not tied to religion, in 1771;[6] Etymonline dates this sense by 1794.[5] Johnson (1755) gave the word first as "unnecessary fear or scruples in religion".[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1230 – an act of superfluity or excess (obsolete).[6]
  • c. 1384 – irrational religious belief based on fear or ignorance, in the Wycliffite Bible.[6]
  • c. 1425 – a religion considered false or pagan.[6]
  • before 1450 – a single irrational religious belief or practice.[6]
  • 1523 – a ceremony of a pagan or idolatrous character, in Skelton.[6]
  • 1609 – a belief in supernatural influences on luck, in Shakespeare's Pericles.[6]
  • 1755 – excessive scrupulousness (obsolete), in Johnson.[6][13]
  • 1771 – any irrational or mistaken notion.[6] Etymonline dates it by 1794.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Belief or practice that comes from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false idea of cause and effect.[3][14]
  2. A particular belief or practice of this kind, especially one about good or bad luck: the superstition that a broken mirror brings seven years of bad luck.[6][14][3]
  3. Any irrational or unfounded belief or notion.[14][6]
  4. A religious belief or system regarded as false, irrational or pagan.[6][15]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  15. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press