Etymologically
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superpono

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊ.pɛrˈpoː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [su.perˈpɔː.no][1]

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