Etymograph

English

supra

Supra comes from Latin suprā ‘above, on the top, on the upper side’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *úp.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úp1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér1‘above’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*super1‘above’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superos1‘upper’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superād1‘above’reconstructed
  6. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEsuprād1
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuprā1‘above, on the top, on the upper side’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2018supra1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English supra
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Julius Taranto, On Outgrowing David Foster Wallace: “Set aside the very recent #MeToo discussion, which as…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úpWiktionary, English suprareconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upérWiktionary, English supra‘above’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superWiktionary, English supra‘above’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superosWiktionary, English supra‘upper’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superādWiktionary, English supra‘above’reconstructed
  6. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEsuprādWiktionary, English supra
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuprāWiktionary, English supra‘above, on the top, on the upper side’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2018supraWiktionary, English supra. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Julius Taranto, On Outgrowing David Foster Wallace: “Set aside the very recent #MeToo discussion, which as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘above’

over, superior, uber, supervise, 17 more

through Proto-Italic *super ‘above’

super, sovereign, soprano, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *superos ‘upper’

summary, supreme, consummate, summa, 3 more

through Latin suprā ‘above, on the top, on the upper side’

somersault, 1 more

Another origin of supra

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentسُفْرَة‘victuals’
  2. Classical Persianc. 900–presentسفرهsufra‘tablecloth’
  3. Georgianmodernსუფრაsupra‘tablecloth’
  4. Englishtodaysupra

Today it means

adv Used to indicate that the current citation is from a source cited earlier in the text.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “supra”. 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 *úp / supra

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