supersum

Forms

supersum (present infinitive superesse, perfect active superfuī, future active participle superfutūrus); irregular conjugation, suppletive, no passive, no supine stem except in the future active participle, no gerund^[1] The parts are sometimes separated or inverted, especially in poetry: Virgil has iamque adeō super ūnus eram, “and now I alone was left”.^[2][3] Ennius and Accius have an inceptive form superescit with the force of a future.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin super- (“above, over”) + sum (“to be”).^[2][1] super goes back to Proto-Italic *super and Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over, above”), with an added ⟨s-⟩ as in sub;^[4] sum goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus: sī quid super illī fuerit, id nōbīs sat est, “if anything is left over for him, that is enough for us”.^[2] Ennius has sibi memorat ūnum superesse labōrem, “he says one task remains for him”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Superesse is “to be left over, remain” (Cato of the space between two trees), and of persons “to remain alive, survive”.^[2][3][1] It is “to remain to be done”, “to be still available” to someone, and “to be more than is needed, superfluous”.^[2][1] Less often it is “to be above, on top of” and “to be superior to”, and of an advocate “to stand by” a client.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “be over and above, remain, be left, be superfluous, survive, suffice”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sī quid super illī fuerit.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: ūnum superesse labōrem.^[2][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of space left over.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: super ūnus eram.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be left over, remain.^[2][3][1][5]
2. To remain alive, survive.^[2][1][5]
3. To remain to be done.^[2]
4. To be still available (to someone).^[2]
5. To be more than enough, be superfluous; to abound.^[2][1][5]
6. To be above; to be superior to.^[2]
7. To stand by, support (a client, of an advocate).^[2][1]

Related words

• sum
• super
• superstes

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de