different between superior vs free

English

Alternative forms

• superiour (British) (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /su??p??.?i.?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /s??p??.i.?/
• Rhymes: -???i?(?)

Adjective

superior (not comparable)

1. Higher in rank, status, or quality.
   1. Of high standard or quality.
   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.
   4. Greater or better than average.

      Synonym: extraordinary

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

4. Located above or out; higher in position.
   1. (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.
   2. (botany) (of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.
   3. (botany) Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.

      Synonym: posterior

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

      Synonym: ascending

5. (taxonomy) More comprehensive.

6. Affecting or assuming an air of superiority.

   Synonym: supercilious

7. (astronomy) (of a planet) Closer to the Earth than to the Sun.

Usage notes

• Superior and inferior are generally followed by to; than is sometimes used mistakenly.

Antonyms

• inferior

Coordinate terms

• (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) [edit]}

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. (Scotland, 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–present.
• “superior”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).
• superior in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• superior at OneLook Dictionary Search

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superior, attested from 1653.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /su.p?.?i?o/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /su.pe.?i?o?/

Adjective

superior (masculine and feminine plural superiors)

1. superior, higher, high

   Antonym: inferior

Related terms

• superioritat

Noun

superior m or f (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): /su?pe.ri.or/, [s???p??i?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /su?pe.ri.or/, [su?p???i?r]

Adjective

superior (neuter superius, positive superus); third declension

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

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?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superior.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.p???jo?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.pe.?i.?o?/
• Hyphenation: su?pe?ri?or

Adjective

superior m or f (plural superiores, comparable)

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): /?su.pe.ri?or/

Adjective

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

1. superior

Declension

Antonyms

• inferior

Related terms

• superioritate

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /supe??jo?/, [su.pe??jo?]

Adjective

superior (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

• superioridad

Further reading

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English free, fre, freo, from Old English fr?o (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *fr?, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“dear, beloved”), from *preyH- (“to love, please”). Related to friend. Cognate with West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), Low German free (“free”), German frei (“free”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian fri (“free”), Sanskrit ????? (priyá).

Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the PIE word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage". This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved", in other words friends and tribe members (in contrast to unfree inhabitants from other tribes and prisoners of war, many of which were among the slaves – compare the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family").

The verb comes from Middle English freen, freo?en, from Old English fr?on, fr?o?an (“to free; make free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frij?n, from Proto-Germanic *frij?n?, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH-.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fr?, IPA^(key): /f?i?/, [f??i?]
• Rhymes: -i?
• Homophone: three (with th-fronting)

Adjective

free (comparative freer, superlative freest)

1. (social) Unconstrained.
   • 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, scene i:

     Quickly, spirit! / Thou shalt ere long be free.

   Synonyms: unconstrained, unfettered, unhindered

   Antonyms: constrained, restricted

   1. Not imprisoned or enslaved.

      Antonyms: bound, enslaved, imprisoned

   2. Unconstrained by timidity or distrust

      Synonyms: unreserved, frank, communicative
   3. Generous; liberal.

   4. (obsolete) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
   5. Without obligations.

   6. Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.
   7. Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.

   8. (software) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.

      Synonym: libre

      Antonym: proprietary

   9. (software) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.
2. Obtainable without any payment.

   Synonyms: free of charge, gratis

   1. (by extension, chiefly advertising slang) complimentary

3. (abstract) Unconstrained.
   1. (mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.

   2. (mathematics, logic) Unconstrained by quantifiers.

      Antonym: bound

   3. (programming) Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound.

      Synonym: unbound

      Antonym: bound

   4. (linguistics) (of a morpheme) That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.
4. (physical) Unconstrained.
   1. Unobstructed, without blockages.

      Synonyms: clear, unobstructed

      Antonyms: blocked, obstructed

   2. Unattached or uncombined.

      Synonyms: loose, unfastened; see also Thesaurus:loose

   3. Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.

   4. (botany, mycology) Not attached; loose.
5. Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.

   Synonym: without

6. (dated) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.

7. (dated) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of.
8. (Britain, law, obsolete) Certain or honourable; the opposite of base.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

9. (law) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

Antonyms

• unfree

Hyponyms

• -free

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

free (comparative more free, superlative most free)

1. Without needing to pay.

   Synonyms: for free, for nothing

2. (obsolete) Freely; willingly.

Translations

Verb

free (third-person singular simple present frees, present participle freeing, simple past and past participle freed)

1. (transitive) To make free; set at liberty; release.
2. (transitive) To rid of something that confines or oppresses.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:

     Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil."

Derived terms

• befree

Synonyms

• befree
• emancipate
• let loose
• liberate
• manumit
• release
• unchain
• unfetter
• unshackle

Translations

Noun

free (plural frees)

1. (Australian rules football, Gaelic football) Abbreviation of free kick.
   • 2006, [1]:

     Whether deserved or not, the free gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren.

2. free transfer
3. (hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
4. (swimming) the freestyle stroke

Translations

References

Anagrams

• feer, fere, reef

Galician

Verb

free

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of frear
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of frear

Low German

Alternative forms

• frie (more common)

Etymology

From Middle Low German vrîe, variant of vrî, from Old Saxon fr?, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *prey (“new”). Compare Dutch vrij, West Frisian frij, English free, German frei.

Adjective

free (comparative fre'er, superlative freest)

1. (rather rare) free

Declension

Derived terms

• Freeheit