Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “superscript” come from?

Superscript comes from Middle French superscript, from Latin superscriptus, the past participle of superscribo, meaning to write above, derived from scribo, to write, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European skreybʰ-, to cut or scratch.

superscript (English): A type of lettering form that appears as a...

Definitions

  1. A type of lettering form that appears as a...

Ancestry of “superscript”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchsuperscript—
2Latinsuperscriptus
3LatinsuperscriboI write over or upon: I superscribe
4Latinsuper-super-; over, above
5Latinsuper"accusative" above, on the top of, upon;...
6Latineks-uper—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanupérialternative reconstruction of *upér
8Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
9Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →