superior

Forms

superior m or f (masculine and feminine plural superiores)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin superior (“higher, upper”), a learned word.^[2][1][3][4] The Latin adjective is the comparative of superus (“upper, situated above”), itself formed from super (“over, above”).^[5][6][1] Gómez de Silva derives the comparative ending from the suffix Proto-Indo-European *-yos-.^[7] De Vaan traces the preposition to Proto-Italic *super and Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uper(i) (“over, above”).^[6]

The same Latin root gave the inherited sobre, and through the verb superō (“to surpass”) the popular sobrar and the learned superar.^[3][4] French supérieur goes back to the same learned borrowing, first as superior about 1160; Portuguese superior and Italian superiore are the same Latin word.^[8][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old Spanish Textual Archive has the word from 1380 on, in 102 texts.^[10] DICCA-XV records it in 1418 and reports a CORDE record of 1400.^[11] Corominas's first record is Alfonso de Palencia (1490), and the BDELC dates the word to the second quarter of the 15th century.^[3][4][11] Autoridades defined it as what is higher and in a pre-eminent place over another thing, and called it “a purely Latin word”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Corominas dates the derivative superioridad to 1438 and finds the feminine superiora in Santillana.^[3][4] In the Americas the word is recorded from 1527, in Nicaragua, for a governor or superior authority.^[13] Autoridades lists the figurative senses “more excellent and worthy” and “exceeding others in virtue or gifts”, and a geographical sense for higher lands, as in Alemania superior.^[14] In 1817 the Academy added the astrological “superior planets” Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, and the noun for the person who governs others, especially in religious communities.^[15] The present dictionary adds the biological sense of more complex organisms, and the plain sense “excellent, very good”.^[2]

In Chile the adjective was used for “magnificent” and even as an adverb, “very well”, a use Román defended with examples from Pereda and Suárez de Figueroa.^[16] In Yucatán Superior or Superior Ejecutivo was a name for the governor or executive power in 1895.^[17]

Timeline

• 1380 – first record in the Old Spanish Textual Archive.^[10]
• 1418 – DICCA-XV's first record.^[11]
• 1438 – the derivative superioridad.^[4]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia, Corominas's first record.^[3][11]
• 1527 – first record in the Americas, in Nicaragua.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades calls it “a purely Latin word”.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy adds the superior planets and the noun for a religious superior.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary first gives the etymology “Del lat. superior”.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. upper, higher: of a thing, placed higher than another or in a more prominent place: Vivo en el piso superior.^[2][19]
2. superior: greater than something or someone in quality or quantity: una cifra superior a la del año pasado.^[2][20]
3. Excellent, very good: un aceite de calidad superior.^[2][20]
4. (biology) Of a living thing: more complex in organisation and thought to be more highly evolved than others.^[2]
5. (geography) Of a place or country: lying in the upper part of a river's basin: el Rin superior.^[2][19]

Noun

1. A person who has others under his or her charge or direction; a boss.^[2][1]
2. (masculine and feminine; feminine also superiora) The person who governs or directs a congregation or community, especially a religious one.^[2][19]

Word family

• superioridad
• superiora
• superiormente

Related words

• sobre
• superar
• supremo
• soberano
• Latin superior
• French supérieur

Usage notes

The adjective has one form for both genders (la parte superior); the feminine superiora is used only for the head of a religious community.^[19][1] It is construed with a (superior a sus compañeros), and with en or por for the respect in which it excels.^[21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. superior
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 277
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sobre
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. supérieur
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva
10. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
11. ^ a b c d Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 186
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 821
16. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 355
17. ^ Ramos y Duarte, Félix (1895), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Imprenta de Eduardo Dublán, p. 466
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 997
19. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
20. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
21. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1545