Etymologically
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supremus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [sʊˈpreː.mʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [suˈprɛː.mus][1]

Forms

suprēmus (superlative, feminine suprēma, neuter suprēmum, comparative superior, adverb suprēmē); first/second declension[1]

Etymology

It is the superlative of superus “upper”, formed with -ēmus, as in extrēmus and postrēmus.[2][1] Wiktionary takes it from earlier *suprezmo-, from Proto-Italic *superisemos.[1] The other superlative of superus is summus.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Twelve Tables set sunset as the last time, suprēma tempestās, for legal business, and Köbler dates them about 450 BC.[2][4] Plautus uses it of supreme Jupiter.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant highest, topmost, as Virgil's tops of the mountains, and the farthest point, as Ennius' racehorse winning on the last lap.[2][5] It meant last in time, the close of day, and the last of one's life: suprēmus diēs was the day of death, and the neuter plural suprēma were funeral rites.[2] It was used of a decisive battle, of Jupiter as most exalted, and of the greatest degree, as suprēmum supplicium, the death penalty.[2] Döderlein notes that summus is the plain local word for uppermost.[6]

In medieval Latin it meant highest in authority, and as a noun God the Most High.[7] English supreme is recorded in the 1520s.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of sunset.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of Jupiter.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the last lap of a race.[2][4]
  • 1520s – English supreme is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Highest, topmost; the top of.[2][1]
  2. Farthest, endmost.[2]
  3. Last, final, (as noun) sunset.[2]
  4. Last in one's life, suprēmus diēs the day of death, suprēma funeral rites.[2][5]
  5. Decisive, critical.[2]
  6. Most exalted, supreme.[2][7]
  7. Greatest, extreme, suprēmum supplicium the death penalty.[2]

Word family

  • supremitas

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com