Etymologically
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supernus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊˈpɛr.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [suˈpɛr.nus][1]

Forms

supernus (feminine superna, neuter supernum, adverb superne); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin supernē (“above, from above”), probably a back-formation.[2][1] De Vaan agrees, and thinks the adverb contains a suffix ⟨-ne⟩, as in pōne (“behind”); the base super (“above”) goes back to Proto-Italic *super(i) (“above”) and Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uper(i) (“over, above”).[3] Cognate with Umbrian superne (“over”) and Sanskrit उपरि (upári, “above, over”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,[3] who writes of upper clouds moving one way while lower ones move another.[2][4] A fragment of the historian Sisenna, a little older, uses the neuter plural of heavenly matters.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant situated above or at a higher level:[2][6] Lucretius writes of the upper rocks in caves sweating moisture, Horace of lofty Tusculum on its hill, and Pliny the Elder of wounds dealt from above.[2][6] Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan and absent from Cicero and Caesar.[6] Seneca's tragedies and Lucan use it of the upper world as against the underworld,[2][4] and it often meant celestial, as in Ovid's divine power and Lucan's gods above.[2][6] Statius' mare supernum seems to be the Propontis or the Black Sea, and Mela's upper shores are the northern ones.[2][6]

In Christian and medieval Latin it was a common word for heavenly or divine: Aldhelm writes of the realms above, and Bede of a woman lifted up to the heavens.[7][8] As a noun, supernī were the dwellers in heaven, and supernus could mean God.[7][1] English supernal comes from the medieval derivative supernālis.[9]

Timeline

  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna uses the neuter plural of heavenly matters.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of upper clouds.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of lofty Tusculum.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of divine power.[2][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses mare supernum of an upper sea.[2][5]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the heavenly realms.[7][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Situated above, upper, at a higher level; lofty.[2][6]
  2. Of the upper world (as against the underworld).[2][4]
  3. Celestial, heavenly; divine.[2][8]
  4. Northern.[6][1]
  5. Situated on the surface.[2]

Noun

  1. (neuter plural) Things above; heavenly things.[2][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) (masculine plural) The dwellers in heaven;[7][1] (singular) God.[7][1]

Word family

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 o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com