superior

Forms

superior m or n (feminine singular superioară, masculine plural superiori, feminine/neuter plural superioare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin superior (“higher, upper”), with French supérieur as a second model.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin and Scriban give only the Latin source.^[5][6] The Latin word is the comparative of superus (“that is above, upper”), from super (“above, over”).^[7][1] The French word is itself a learned borrowing from the same Latin adjective, recorded from about 1160.^[8]

Graur groups it with other Romanian descendants of the same preposition and of suprā: suprem, sumă, superb and the verb supăra.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of 1702 published by Iorga.^[5] The DLR's first quotation, from a document of 1725 in the Uricariul, uses the noun for the head of a Catholic religious house: money handed to the superiorul of the Polish residence in Iași.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The first Romanian use was ecclesiastical: the head of a Catholic monastery or religious community, and by extension an Orthodox abbot or the director of a seminary.^[3][2] In the first half of the 19th century the word spread as a general term for someone of higher rank in a hierarchy;^[3][10] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) glosses it as “higher, greater in post, having the authority to command”.^[3][10]

As an adjective it took over the spatial sense of the Latin word, “upper, situated above”, which applies to the upper course of a river and to the upper limbs (membre superioare).^[4][2] A figurative sense, “better, of higher quality, outstanding”, completes the series;^[5][4] Tiktin records it with the German glosses höher, übergeordnet and überlegen.^[5][4] Fixed phrases include ofițer superior “field officer” (major and above) and învățământ superior “higher education”.^[4][11]

Timeline

• 1702 – first record, in a document published by Iorga.^[5]
• 1725 – the noun for the head of a Catholic residence in Iași, in the Uricariul.^[3][2]
• 1848 – entered in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, “higher, having authority to command”.^[10]
• 1870 – Costinescu gives the noun for the head of a seminary or monastery, as in parintele superior and maica superioară.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. upper: situated above something else in space; of a river's course, nearer the source than the mouth.^[4][2]
2. Of higher rank or dignity in a hierarchy: ofițer superior “field officer”, învățământ superior “higher education”.^[4][13]
3. better in quality; standing out by special merits: Este superior colegilor săi.^[4][6]

Noun

1. A superior: a person of higher rank to whom others are subordinate.^[4][3]
2. The head of a Catholic monastery or religious community; by extension an abbot (stareț).^[2][3]

Related words

• superioritate
• inferior
• suprem
• Latin superior

Usage notes

The adjective is a Latin comparative, so Scriban objects to mai superior decât altul “more superior than another” and recommends superior altuia, with the dative.^[6][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1061
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. superior
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1074
5. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. superior
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1266
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
10. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București
11. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. superior
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 581
13. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. superior
14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 309