different between handsome vs super

English

Etymology

From Middle English handsum, hondsom, equivalent to hand +? -some. Compare Dutch handzaam, German Low German handsaam. The original sense was ‘easy to handle or use’, hence ‘suitable’ and ‘apt, clever’ (mid 16th century), giving rise to the current appreciatory senses (late 16th century).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæn.s?m/ or occasionally /?hænd.s?m/~/?hænt.s?m/
• Hyphenation: hand?some
• Homophone: Hansom

Adjective

handsome (comparative more handsome or handsomer, superlative most handsome or handsomest)

1. (of people, things, etc) Having a good appearance; good-looking.
   • 1916, On H.R. 4683, site for post-office building at Chicago, Ill, page 117:

     On the opposite side of the street, on the corner, is the city hall, a very handsome building of brick and stone.

   • 2006, Richard Leviton, The Gods in Their Cities, iUniverse (?ISBN), page 44:

     Often, human mortals describe their visits to the Tuatha's [places] in similar terms: they were great bright places, occupied by exceedingly handsome men and women, that sported wonderful crystal chairs, inexhaustible supplies of mead or ale ...

   1. (of a man or boy) Visually attractive; pleasant looking, good-looking.

   2. (of a woman) beautiful, or (especially in later usage) striking, impressive and elegantly proportioned.
      • 1662, Samuel Pepys, diary

        I saw, I confess, some good dancing and some handsome women, which was all my pleasure.
2. Good, appealing, appropriate.
   1. (of weather) Fine, clear and bright.
      • 1808, John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, page 513:

        Sunday, the sixth, we heaved up our sheet-anchor again, the day beginning with little wind, and continued handsome weather till eight at night, when the wind came to S. S. W. and it fell a snowing.

      • 1911, Farm Chemicals, page 60:

        The story goes that James Whitcomb Riley, the poet, on a beautiful spring day, in making his way from his home to his office, was accosted by numerous friends on the way who were exclaiming most extravagantly on the beauty of the day. It was "Good morning, Mr. Riley, a fine day;" "Good morning, Mr. Riley, […] a handsome day;" […] .

   2. Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; appropriate.
      • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume I, Chapter 2

        For a few days, every morning visit in Highbury included some mention of the handsome letter Mrs. Weston had received. “I suppose you have heard of the handsome letter Mr. Frank Churchill has written to Mrs. Weston? I understand it was a very handsome letter, indeed. Mr. Woodhouse told me of it. Mr. Woodhouse saw the letter, and he says he never saw such a handsome letter in his life.”

3. Generous or noble in character.
   • 1859, George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Chapter 11:

     I'm a plain man, Mr. Feverel. Above board with me, and you'll find me handsome.

4. Ample; moderately large.

   Synonyms: hefty, substantial
5. (obsolete, said of things and people) Dexterous; skillful.

Usage notes

The sense of good looking was originally equally applicable to both sexes, but is now used mostly of men. In current usage, when applied to a woman it may connote a non-traditional or masculine form of beauty, as opposed to more neutral alternatives such as beautiful or attractive.

Derived terms

• do the handsome thing

Translations

Verb

handsome (third-person singular simple present handsomes, present participle handsoming, simple past and past participle handsomed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To render handsome.

References

Anagrams

• mashed on

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s(j)u?p?(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sup?/
• Rhymes: -u?p?(?)
• Homophone: souper (one pronunciation)
• Hyphenation: su?per

Etymology 1

From super- (prefix), from Middle English super-, from Latin super-, from super (“above”), from Pre-Italic or Proto-Indo-European *eks-uper, from *e?s (“out of”) (English ex-), from *h?e??s + *uperi (English over). Cognate to hyper, from Ancient Greek.

Adjective

super (not comparable)

1. Of excellent quality, superfine.
2. better than average, better than usual; wonderful.

Synonyms

• (better): awesome, excellent

Derived terms

• super-duper

Related terms

• super-

Translations

Adverb

super (not comparable)

1. (informal) Very; extremely (used like the prefix super-).

   The party was super awesome.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation by shortening.

Noun

super (plural supers)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, informal) Short for superannuation.

   Jane looked forward to collecting a large super payout when she retired.

2. Short for supercomputer.
   • 1989, Kai Hwang, Doug DeGroot, Parallel processing for supercomputers and artificial intelligence

     The performances and cost ranges of three classes of commercial supercomputers are given in Table 2.1. The full-scale supers are the most expensive class, represented by Cray, ETA, and Fujitsu systems, for example.

3. (comics, slang) Short for superhero.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:super.
4. (beekeeping) Short for superhive.
5. (informal, US) Short for superintendent, especially, a building's resident manager (sometimes clarified as “building super”).
6. (neologism) Short for supernaturalist, especially as distinguished from bright.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:super.
7. Short for supernumerary; (theater) specifically, a supernumerary actor.
8. Short for supertanker.
   • 1973, Jeffrey Potter, Disaster by Oil (page 46)

     That is a lot of ship, about the size of big tankers before they grew so rapidly to become supers, mammoths and oilbergs.

9. Short for supervisor.

Verb

super (third-person singular simple present supers, present participle supering, simple past and past participle supered)

1. (beekeeping) Short for superhive.
   • 1917 Dadant, C. P., First Lessons in Beekeeping; revised & rewritten edition, 1968, by M. G. Dadant and J. C. Dadant, p 73:

     The question is: when is the best time to super?

2. (television) Short for superimpose.
   • 1987, Television Quarterly (volumes 23-24)

     Even running a supered "Re-enactment" caption for a few seconds is poor policy, he feels […]

Anagrams

• Pre-Us, Purse, Rupes, puers, pures, purse, re-ups, reups, rupes, sprue

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?sup?r]

Etymology

Borrowed from English super, French super, from Latin super.

Adjective

super (indeclinable)

1. (informal) super, great

   M?j brácha si koupil super auto, to musíš vid?t!

   Ten výlet byl prost? super!

Usage notes

This word is slightly more formal than supr, yet still informal.

Synonyms

• supr

See also

• vynikající

Interjection

super

1. (informal) super

Synonyms

• supr

Further reading

• super in Kartotéka Novo?eského lexikálního archivu

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed via English super from Latin super (“over”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?su?b??]

Adjective

super (neuter super or supert, plural super or (unofficial) supre)

1. (informal) terrific

Adverb

super

1. (informal) very

Synonyms

• herre
• mega

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English super, ultimately from Latin super.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sy.p?r/
• Hyphenation: su?per

Adverb

super

1. (informal) very, extremely, super

Adjective

super (not comparable)

1. great, super

Inflection

Related terms

• hyper
• over

Esperanto

Etymology

From Latin super.

Pronunciation

Preposition

super

1. above

Antonyms

• sub

French

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin super. Doublet of the inherited sur. See also hyper, borrowed from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.p??/

Adjective

super (invariable)

1. superb, great

Derived terms

• super amas stellaire
• super-amas d'étoiles
• super-amas stellaire
• super combiné

Adverb

super

1. (informal) extremely, very (as an intensifier)

Synonyms

• vachement
• hyper

Interjection

super

1. great, fantastic

Related terms

• super-

Etymology 2

Probably a borrowing from a Germanic language, from *s?pan? (“to sip, sup”). If so then doublet of souper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.pe/

Verb

super

1. (regional) to suck, to sip

Conjugation

Anagrams

• peurs, pures, repus, rupes

Further reading

• “super” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English super.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?zu?p?/

Adjective

super (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) super, great, awesome

Declension

Synonyms

• klasse
• spitze

Further reading

• “super” in Duden online

Interlingua

Preposition

super

1. about (focused on a given topic)

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin super. Cf. sopra.

Adjective

super (invariable)

1. super

Noun

super m (invariable)

1. The best
2. superphosphate

super f (invariable)

1. The best grade of petrol

Anagrams

• pruse, ruspe

Latin

Etymology

From *eks-uper, from Proto-Indo-European *h?e??s (“out of”) (Latin ex) + *uperi (“above”), from *upo. The latter is cognate to Ancient Greek ???? (hupér, “above”) and Proto-Germanic *uber (English over).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?su.per/, [?s??p?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?su.per/, [?su?p?r]

Preposition

super (+ accusative, ablative)

1. accusative [of place] above, on the top of, upon

   Cibus super mensam est.

   The food is on the table.

2. accusative [of place] above, beyond
3. accusative [of measure] above, beyond, over, in addition to
4. ablative concerning, regarding

Usage notes

• Used in many compound words, see super-.

Adverb

super (not comparable)

1. above, on top, over
2. upwards
3. moreover, in addition, besides

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:super.

Antonyms

• sub

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• super in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• super in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• super in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
• super in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700?^[4], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English super.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?su.p?r/

Adjective

super (indeclinable, comparative bardziej super, superlative najbardziej super)

1. (colloquial) great, excellent

Adverb

super (comparative bardziej super, superlative najbardziej super)

1. (colloquial) excellently

See also

• super-

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin super; cf. also English super. Doublet of the inherited sobre.

Adverb

super (not comparable)

1. (informal) super, very (intensifier)

   Synonyms: muito, bastante, bué, mega

Adjective

super (invariable, comparable)

1. super

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• suber
• supre
• subre

Etymology

From Latin super.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /super/

Preposition

super

1. on, on top of, above

   Synonym: supra

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin super; cf. also English super. Doublet of the inherited sobre.

Adjective

super (invariable)

1. (intensifier) very, mega

Swedish

Pronunciation 1

• IPA^(key): /²s??p?r/

Verb

super

1. present tense of supa.

Adjective

super (not comparable)

1. perfect, super, excellent, great

Declension

Only used predicatively.