Etymograph

English

super

Super comes from the prefix super-, via Middle English from Latin super- ‘above’, from super.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér1‘over’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*super1‘above’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuper2‘above’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuper-2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500super-2
  6. English1500–presentsuper-2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1992super2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin super
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English super
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, The Canberra Times: “The job is super interesting for a person who…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upérWiktionary, Latin super‘over’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superWiktionary, Latin super‘above’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperWiktionary, English super‘above’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuper-Wiktionary, English super
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500super-Wiktionary, English super
  6. English1500–presentsuper-Wiktionary, English super
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1992superWiktionary, English super. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, The Canberra Times: “The job is super interesting for a person who…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘over’

over, uber, 19 more

through Proto-Italic *super ‘above’

supreme, summary, consummate, summa, supra, 15 more

through Latin super ‘above’

sovereign, soprano, 14 more

Today it means

adj Of excellent quality, superfine.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “super”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin super. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *upér / super

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