supernus Latin · revision 36213

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *(h₁)uper(i)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊˈpɛr.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [suˈpɛr.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''supernus''' (feminine superna, neuter supernum, adverb superne); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|supernē|t=above, from above]], probably a back-formation.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan agrees, and thinks the adverb contains a suffix ⟨-ne⟩, as in [[m|la|pōne|t=behind]]; the base [[m|la|super|t=above]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*super(i)|t=above]] and [[ine-pro|*(h₁)uper(i)|t=over, above]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[xum|superne|t=over]] and [[sa|उपरि|tr=upári|t=above, over]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,^(de Vaan 2008) who writes of upper clouds moving one way while lower ones move another.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) A fragment of the historian Sisenna, a little older, uses the neuter plural of heavenly matters.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant situated above or at a higher level:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) 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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan and absent from Cicero and Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca's tragedies and Lucan use it of the upper world as against the underworld,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and it often meant celestial, as in Ovid's divine power and Lucan's gods above.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Statius' ''mare supernum'' seems to be the Propontis or the Black Sea, and Mela's upper shores are the northern ones.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ 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.^(DMLBS)^(Stelten 1995) As a noun, ''supernī'' were the dwellers in heaven, and ''supernus'' could mean God.^(DMLBS)^(Wiktionary) English [[m|en|supernal]] comes from the medieval derivative [[m|la|supernālis]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 120–67 BC – Sisenna uses the neuter plural of heavenly matters.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of upper clouds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of lofty Tusculum.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of divine power.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses ''mare supernum'' of an upper sea.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the heavenly realms.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Situated above, [[m|en|upper]], at a higher level; lofty.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of the upper world (as against the [[m|en|underworld]]).^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # [[m|en|celestial|alt=Celestial]], heavenly; divine.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|northern|alt=Northern]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Situated on the surface.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # (neuter plural) Things above; heavenly things.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' (masculine plural) The dwellers in [[m|en|heaven]];^(DMLBS)^(Wiktionary) (singular) God.^(DMLBS)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[supernitas]]

+ * [[supernās]]

+ * [[supernē]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[super]]

+ * [[superāns]]

+ * [[superō]]

+ * [[superus]]

+ * [[īnfernus]]

+ * [[en|supernal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}