superpono

Forms

superpōnō (present infinitive superpōnere, perfect active superposuī or superposīvī, supine superpositum or superpostum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin super- (“over, above”) + pōnō (“to place”).^[2][1] De Vaan derives pōnō from an older ⟨*po-sinō⟩ “to put down”, a compound of sinō (“to let, allow”),^[3] and traces super to Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)uper(i) (“over, above”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short think it perhaps not older than Augustan times.^[4] The earliest example is in Livy, of an ornament set on a human head (hūmānō superpositum capitī decus).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is placing one thing on top of another,^[2][6] as of a tower built on piles in Suetonius or a villa set on a hill.^[2][5] As a medical term it means applying plasters or remedies, in Celsus and Pliny the Elder,^[2][6] and in geography locating a region beyond another.^[2]

Figuratively it means putting someone in charge, as in a fragment of Livy;^[2][6] an inscription uses the participle superpositus for a superintendent of physicians.^[2][6] Seneca uses it for ranking one thing above another and for raising the mind above injuries, and Quintilian for placing a word earlier in a sentence.^[2][5] In Christian Latin Jerome uses it of one presbyter chosen to be set over the others.^[6]

Timeline

• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses it of an ornament placed on a head, and of putting a man in charge.^[2][7]
• 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca uses it of raising the mind above injuries.^[2][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it as a medical term.^[2][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of the order of words.^[2][7]
• c. 383–419/420 – Jerome uses it of a presbyter set over the others.^[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To place over or on top, superimpose.^[2][6]
2. (medicine) To apply (a plaster or remedy).^[2][6]
3. To locate (a region) above or beyond another.^[2]
4. To place earlier in a sentence.^[2][5]
5. To put in charge, set over;^[2][6] superpositus (as a noun), a superintendent.^[2][6]
6. To rank higher; to raise (the mind) above (troubles).^[2][5]
7. To mask, overlay (a quality).^[2][5]

Word family

• superpositio

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de