FromMiddle English, borrowed fromOld Frenchsuperiour, fromLatinsuperior(“higher, upper”).
superior (notcomparable)
- Higher inrank,status, orquality.
Rebecca had always thought shorts were farsuperior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.
1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, inThe Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions forsuperior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
2022 January 12, David Clough, “From Germany with love: a Warship perspective”, inRAIL, number948, page46:Additionally, reliability proved to besuperior to NBL's design, with an average of 120,000 miles run during 1959.
- Ofhighstandard orquality.
1905,
E. M. Forster,
Where Angels Fear to Tread , chapter 3:
- She always treated (her husband) as a boy, which he was, and as a fool, which he was not, thinking herself so immeasurablysuperior to him that she neglected opportunity after opportunity of establishing her rule.
- Greater insize orpower.
- (superior to) Beyond thepower orinfluence of; toogreat orfirm to besubdued oraffected by.
1711 December 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison;Richard Steeleet al.], “SATURDAY, December 1, 1711”, inThe Spectator, number237; republished inAlexander Chalmers, editor,The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.:D[aniel] Appleton & Company,1853,→OCLC:There is not in earth a spectacle more worthy[…]than a brave mansuperior to his sufferings.- The spelling has been modernized.
- Greater orbetter thanaverage.
- Synonym:extraordinary
- Courageously orserenelyindifferent (as to somethingpainful ordisheartening).
- (typography) Printed insuperscript.
asuperior figure or letter
- Locatedabove orout;higher in position.
thesuperior jaw; thesuperior part of an image
- (anatomy, medicine) Locatedabove orhigher, a direction thatin humans corresponds tocephalad.
- (botany)(of acalyx) Above theovary;said of parts of theflower which, although normally below the ovary,adhere to it, and so appear to originate from itsupper part.
- (botany)(of anovary) Above and free from the otherfloralorgans.
- (botany) Belonging to the part of anaxillaryflower which is toward the mainstem.
- Synonym:posterior
- (botany)(of theradicle) Pointing toward theapex of thefruit.
- Synonym:ascending
- (taxonomy) Morecomprehensive.
A genus issuperior to a species.
- Affecting orassuming an air ofsuperiority.
- Synonym:supercilious
- (astronomy, of a planet in the Solar System) Having awiderorbit around theSun; typically with respect to theEarth.
- Superior andinferior are generally followed byto;than is sometimes used mistakenly.
- Other English words coming from Latin comparative forms areinterior,exterior,ulterior,major,minor,as well asinferior,junior,senior,anterior,posterior andprior, the last six of which (along withsuperior) have retained their comparative meaning in English.[1] For other English terms ultimately from Latin comparatives formed with-us, see e.g.plus andminus.
higher in rank or quality
- Albanian: iepërm (sq), eepërme f
- Arabic:أَجْدَر(ʔajdar),مُتَفَوِّق(mutafawwiq)
- Azerbaijani:üstün (az)
- Bulgarian:старши (bg)(starši),висш (bg)(visš)
- Catalan:superior (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin:優越 /优越 (zh)(yōuyuè)
- Czech:vyšší (cs)
- Danish:overlegen
- Dutch:superieur (nl)
- Esperanto:supera (eo)
- Finnish:(rank)ylempi (fi),(quality)parempi (fi)
- French:supérieur (fr)
- Galician:superior (gl)
- Georgian:უმაღლესი(umaɣlesi)
- German:überlegen (de),höher (de),höherstehend,übergeordnet (de)
- Gothic:𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌿𐌼𐌰(auhuma)
- Greek:ανώτερος (el) m(anóteros)
- Hebrew:עִלַּאי (he) m(iláy)
- Hindi:श्रेष्ठ (hi)(śreṣṭh)
- Hungarian:kiváló (hu)
- Irish:ardchéimiúil
- Italian:superiore (it),sovraordinato
- Japanese:偉い (ja)(erai),貴い (ja)(tōtoi),上級の (ja)(jōkyū no),高貴な (ja)(kōki na)
- Korean:우수한(usuhan)
- Lithuanian:aukštesnio laipsnio, vyresnysis
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål:overlegen (no)
- Nynorsk:overlegen
- Occitan:superior (oc)
- Ottoman Turkish:اوست(üst),یوقاری(yukarı)
- Portuguese:superior (pt)
- Romanian:superior (ro),maibun
- Russian:вышестоя́щий (ru)(vyšestojáščij),вы́сший (ru)(výsšij),ста́рший (ru)(stáršij)
- Samoan:sili
- Sanskrit:उत्तर (sa)(uttara),श्रेयस् (sa)(śreyas)
- Spanish:superior (es)
- Swedish:överlägsen (sv)
- Turkish:üstün (tr)
- Ukrainian:ви́щий(výščyj),ста́рший(stáršyj)
- Uyghur:ئۈستۈن(üstün)
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superior (pluralsuperiors)
- A person ofhigherrank orquality, especially acolleague in a higherposition.
- Synonym:overling
- Thesenior person in amonasticcommunity.
- Thehead of certainreligiousinstitutions andcolleges.
- Hyponyms:father superior,mother superior
- (printing) Asuperiorletter,figure, orsymbol.
- Synonym:superscript
- (Scots law, historical) One who has made an original grant of heritable property to atenant orvassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feuduty) or of the performance of certain services.
- “superior”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
- “superior”, inMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “superior”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
- “superior”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
Borrowed fromLatinsuperiōrem. First attested in 1653.[1]
superior m orf (masculine and feminine pluralsuperiors)
- superior,higher,high
- Antonym:inferior
superior m orfby sense (pluralsuperiors)
- superior
Internationalism, fromLatinsuperior.
- IPA(key): /su.pəˈri.or/,[su.pəˈri.ɔr]
superior (pluralsuperior-superior)
- superior: a person of higher rank or quality, especially a colleague in a higher position.
- the senior person in a monastic community.
- the head of certain religious institutions and colleges.
superior (comparativelebih superior,superlativepaling superior)
- superior
- (anatomy) located above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad.
Comparative ofsuperus(“that is above, upper, higher”), fromsuper(“above, over”,preposition) +-us(adjectival suffix).
superior (comparative,neutersuperius,superlativesuprēmusorsuperrimusorsuperrumusorsummus,adverbsuperius);third declension
- comparative degree ofsuperus
- Antonyms:inferior,subterior
- (of aplace)higher,upper
- (of atime ororder)former,past,previous,preceding
63BCE,
Cicero,
Catiline OrationsOratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.18:
- Superiōra illa, quamquam ferenda nōn fuērunt, tamen, ut potuī, tulī; […] .
- Thoseformer [actions], although they should not have been tolerable, nevertheless, as I was able, I endured; […] .
- (especially ofage,seniority etc.)older,elder,senior, moreadvanced,former
- (of acontest)victorious,conquering,stronger,superior
- (of aquality,condition ornumber)higher, moredistinguished,greater,superior
Third-declension comparative adjective.
- “superior”, inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879),A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “superior”, inCharlton T. Lewis (1891),An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “superior”, inGaffiot, Félix (1934),Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894),Latin Phrase-Book[2], London:Macmillan and Co.
- heights, high ground:loca edita, superiora
- last year:superiore, priore anno
- premises; consequences:prima (superiora);consequentia (Fin. 4. 19. 54)
- in his former consulship:superiore consulatu
- to gain a weak case by clever pleading:causam inferiorem dicendo reddere superiorem (λόγον κρείττω ποιειν) (Brut. 8. 30)
- to occupy the high ground:occupare loca superiora
- to have the advantage in cavalry:equitatu superiorem esse
- to come off victorious:superiorem (opp.inferiorem),victorem (proelio, pugna) discedere
FromLatinsuperior.
superior m (feminine singularsuperiora,masculine pluralsuperiors,feminine pluralsuperioras)
- superior
Learned borrowing fromLatinsuperiōrem.
- (Brazil)IPA(key): /su.pe.ɾiˈoʁ/[su.pe.ɾɪˈoh],(faster pronunciation)/su.peˈɾjoʁ/[su.peˈɾjoh]
- (Brazil)IPA(key): /su.pe.ɾiˈoʁ/[su.pe.ɾɪˈoh],(faster pronunciation)/su.peˈɾjoʁ/[su.peˈɾjoh]
- (São Paulo)IPA(key): /su.pe.ɾiˈoɾ/[su.pe.ɾɪˈoɾ],(faster pronunciation)/su.peˈɾjoɾ/
- (Rio de Janeiro)IPA(key): /su.pe.ɾiˈoʁ/[su.pe.ɾɪˈoχ],(faster pronunciation)/su.peˈɾjoʁ/[su.peˈɾjoχ]
- (Southern Brazil)IPA(key): /su.pe.ɾiˈoɻ/[su.pe.ɾɪˈoɻ],(faster pronunciation)/su.peˈɾjoɻ/
- (Portugal)IPA(key): /su.pɨˈɾjoɾ/,(with elision)/su.pɾiˈoɾ/,(with elision, faster pronunciation)/suˈpɾjoɾ/
- (Portugal)IPA(key): /su.pɨˈɾjoɾ/,(with elision)/su.pɾiˈoɾ/,(with elision, faster pronunciation)/suˈpɾjoɾ/
- (Southern Portugal)IPA(key): /su.pɨˈɾjo.ɾi/,(with elision)/su.pɾiˈo.ɾi/,(with elision, faster pronunciation)/suˈpɾjo.ɾi/
superior m orf (pluralsuperiores)
- upper,higher
- better
- superior
superior m (pluralsuperiores,femininesuperiora,feminine pluralsuperioras)
- boss
- head of amonastery
Borrowed fromFrenchsupérieur,Latinsuperior.
superior m orn (feminine singularsuperioară,masculine pluralsuperiori,feminine/neuter pluralsuperioare)
- superior
- Antonym:inferior
Borrowed fromLatinsuperior.
- IPA(key): /supeˈɾjoɾ/[su.peˈɾjoɾ]
- Rhymes:-oɾ
- Syllabification:su‧pe‧rior
superior m orf (masculine and feminine pluralsuperiores)
- upper,higher
- better
- superior
superior m (pluralsuperiores,femininesuperiora,feminine pluralsuperioras)
- boss
- Synonyms:jefe,jefa,patrón,patrona
