superior

English

Alternative forms

• superiour (UK) (obsolete)

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior (“higher, upper”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /suːˈpɪə.ɹi.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, /sə-/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/, /sə-/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

Adjective

superior (not comparable)

1. Higher in rank, status, or quality.

   Rebecca had always thought shorts were far superior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The 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 for superior 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”, in RAIL, number 948, page 46:

     Additionally, reliability proved to be superior to NBL's design, with an average of 120,000 miles run during 1959.

   1. Of high standard or quality.
      • 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 immeasurably superior to him that she neglected opportunity after opportunity of establishing her rule.

   2. Greater in size or power.
   3. (superior to) Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by.
      • 1711 December 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, December 1, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 237; republished in Alexander 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 man superior to his sufferings.

        The spelling has been modernized.

   4. Greater or better than average.

      Synonym: extraordinary

2. Courageously or serenely indifferent (as to something painful or disheartening).
3. (typography) Printed in superscript.

   a superior figure or letter

4. Located above or out; higher in position.

   the superior jaw; the superior part of an image

   2. (anatomy, medicine) Located above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad.
   3. (botany) (of a calyx) Above the ovary; said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part.
   4. (botany) (of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.
   5. (botany) Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.

      Synonym: posterior

   6. (botany) (of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit.

      Synonym: ascending

5. (taxonomy) More comprehensive.

   A genus is superior to a species.

6. Affecting or assuming an air of superiority.

   Synonym: supercilious

7. (astronomy, of a planet in the Solar System) Having a wider orbit around the Sun; typically with respect to the Earth.

Usage notes

• Superior and inferior are generally followed by to; than is sometimes used mistakenly.
• Other English words coming from Latin comparative forms are interior, exterior, ulterior, major, minor, as well as inferior, junior, senior, anterior, posterior and prior, the last six of which (along with superior) have retained their comparative meaning in English. For other English terms ultimately from Latin comparatives formed with -us, see e.g. plus and minus.

Antonyms

• inferior

Coordinate terms

• noninferior
• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apical,‎ apicocoronal,‎ axial,‎ buccal,‎ buccoapical,‎ buccocervical,‎ buccogingival,‎ buccolabial,‎ buccolingual,‎ bucco-occlusal,‎ buccopalatal,‎ cervical,‎ coronal,‎ coronoapical,‎ distal,‎ distoapical,‎ distobuccal,‎ distocervical,‎ distocoronal,‎ distofacial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoincisal,‎ distolingual,‎ disto-occlusal,‎ distoclusal,‎ distocclusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ facial,‎ gingival,‎ incisal,‎ incisocervical,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobuccal,‎ linguo-occlusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maxillary,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapical,‎ mesiobuccal,‎ mesiocervical,‎ mesiocoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofacial,‎ mesioincisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesio-occlusal,‎ mesioclusal,‎ mesiocclusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ occlusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry)}

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

superior (plural superiors)

1. A person of higher rank or quality, especially a colleague in a higher position.

   Synonym: overling

   1. The senior person in a monastic community.
   2. The head of certain religious institutions and colleges.

      Hyponyms: father superior, mother superior

2. (printing) A superior letter, figure, or symbol.

   Synonym: superscript

3. (Scots law, historical) One who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services.

Translations

References

• “superior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “superior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “superior”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “superior”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superiōrem. First attested in 1653.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

superior m or f (masculine and feminine plural superiors)

1. superior, higher, high

   Antonym: inferior

Related terms

• superioritat

Noun

superior m or f by sense (plural superiors)

1. superior

References

Further reading

• “superior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “superior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “superior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Latin

Etymology

Comparative of superus (“that is above, upper, higher”), from super (“above, over”, preposition) +‎ -us (adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /suˈpe.ri.or/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /suˈpe.ri.or/,

Adjective

superior (neuter superius); third declension

1. comparative degree of superus
   1. Higher, upper. (of place)
   2. Former, past, previous, preceding. (of time or order of succession)
      1. (especially of age, time of life, etc.) Older, elder, senior, more advanced, former.
   3. Victorious, conquering, stronger, superior. (of strength or success in battle or any contest)
   4. Higher, more distinguished, greater, superior. (of quality, condition, number, etc.)

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Descendants

References

• “superior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “superior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• superior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, 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
    

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin superior.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

superior m (feminine singular superiora, masculine plural superiors, feminine plural superioras)

1. superior

Related terms

• superioritat

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin superiōrem.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: su‧pe‧ri‧or

Adjective

superior m or f (plural superiores)

1. upper, higher
2. better
3. superior

Antonyms

• inferior

Derived terms

• superiormente

Related terms

• superioridade

Noun

superior m (plural superiores, feminine superiora, feminine plural superioras)

1. boss
2. head of a monastery

Further reading

• “superior” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French supérieur, Latin superior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsu.pe.riˈor/

Adjective

superior m or n (feminine singular superioară, masculine plural superiori, feminine and neuter plural superioare)

1. superior

   Antonym: inferior

Declension

Related terms

• superioritate

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /supeˈɾjoɾ/
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: su‧pe‧rior

Adjective

superior m or f (masculine and feminine plural superiores)

1. upper, higher
2. better
3. superior

Derived terms

Noun

superior m (plural superiores, feminine superiora, feminine plural superioras)

1. boss

   Synonyms: jefe, jefa, patrón, patrona

Related terms

Further reading

• “superior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014