surhumain

Forms

surhumain (feminine surhumaine, masculine plural surhumains, feminine plural surhumaines)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French sur- + humain.^[2][3][1][4] The adjective humain is from Latin hūmānus.^[5] The TLFi compares surhomme, and the rarer adjective supra-humain (1891).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as sur-humain “above the human” in 1555, in Philippe de Villiers's translation of Rhinghier's Cinquante jeus divers d'honnête entretien.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date it from Ronsard in 1578.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “beyond the strength and abilities of ordinary people”, as in un effort surhumain.^[7][6] From 1601, in Charron's Sagesse, it also meant, in literary use, belonging or seeming to belong to a world other than the human one;^[7][6][4] Montaigne had already written of sciences surhumaines.^[4] Chateaubriand used it as a noun in 1826.^[2][8]

The adverb surhumainement is found once in François de Sales (1610–1616) and then from Balzac (1832).^[2] Surhumanité meant a society of superior beings before 1896 (the Goncourts), and later, after Nietzsche, the state of the surhomme.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 1555 – Sur-humain appears in Philippe de Villiers's translation of Rhinghier.^[2][3]
• 1578 – Ronsard uses it.^[5][6]
• 1601 – Charron gives it the sense “belonging to another world than the human”.^[6][7]
• 1826 – Chateaubriand uses surhumain as a noun.^[2]
• 1832 – Balzac uses the adverb surhumainement.^[2]
• Before 1896 – Surhumanité is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Superhuman, beyond normal human strength or ability: un courage surhumain, une force surhumaine.^[9][2][6]
2. (literary) No longer human, belonging or seeming to belong to a world above the human.^[2][7][6]

Noun

1. (literary) Le surhumain: what is beyond the human.^[9][2]

Word family

• surhumainement
• surhumanité

Related words

• humain
• surhomme
• inhumain

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert