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exsupero

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛksˈsʊ.pɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eksˈsuː.pe.ro][1]

Forms

exsuperō (present infinitive exsuperāre, perfect active exsuperāvī, supine exsuperātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled exuperō.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + superō (“to rise above, overcome”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the OLD's earliest quotation, from Plautus, someone fears that the praise given has outdone his looks.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to pass beyond, cross or surmount, as in Virgil's “I pass the rich soil of the marshy Helorus”, and to rise above: Pliny the Elder has vines that overtop the elms.[2] Without an object it is to mount up: Virgil writes that the flames rise up.[2][3] It is also to exceed in size or amount, as a comet the size of the morning sun in Seneca, and to surpass in excellence or degree, and to outlive.[2] Cicero's verse has a fate that overcomes even Jupiter, and Lucretius a present pain that gains the upper hand.[2] Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic and post-Augustan prose, and note the syncopated genitive plural ⟨exsuperantum⟩ in Varro.[3] Coins from AD 186 honour Jupiter as ⟨exsuperantissimus⟩.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of praise that outdoes one's looks.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of pain gaining the upper hand.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of flames rising up.[2][5]
  • 186 AD – Coins honour Jupiter as exsuperantissimus.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pass beyond, cross, surmount; to rise above, overtop; without an object, to mount up.[2][3][1]
  2. To be greater than, exceed; without an object, to be left over.[2][1]
  3. To surpass, outdo, excel; to outlive.[2][1][4]
  4. To overcome, be too strong for; without an object, to gain the upper hand.[2][1]

Word family

  • exsuperābilis
  • exsuperantia
  • exsuperātiō
  • exsuperatorius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften