Etymograph

English

supersedeas

Supersedeas comes from Latin supersedeō ‘to sit upon or above’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēō1‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō1‘sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupersedeō2as supersedeās‘to sit upon or above’
  6. Englishtodaysupersedeas2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin supersedeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English supersedeas

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Latin supersedeo‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin supersedeoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēōWiktionary, Latin supersedeo‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeōWiktionary, Latin supersedeo‘sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupersedeōWiktionary, English supersedeasas supersedeās‘to sit upon or above’
  6. EnglishtodaysupersedeasWiktionary, English supersedeas

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, sit, sitting, method, sell, chair, seat, settle, nest, possess, niche, saddle, exodus, subsidy, nye, soot, beset, prasad, cathode, anode, setter, sate, chaise, besiege, salo, nidal, ersatz, polyhedron, nias, 79 more

through Proto-Italic *sedēō ‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’

possession, obsession, assessor, presidente, assize, 22 more

through Latin sedeō ‘sit’

president, size, session, resident, siege, assess, residue, residual, reside, insidious, sedan, sediment, possessive, dissident, sedentary, obsess, sedative, presidio, sedate, presidium, sessile, seance, 26 more

Today it means

noun A type of surety bond that a court requires from an appellant who wants to delay payment of a judgement until the appeal is over.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “supersedeas”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin supersedeo. 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 *sed- / supersedeas

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