Supersede
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An updated newsgroup post that supersedes an earlier version. Internet
"Rogue cancels and supersedes are being issued on a large scale against posters."
- 1 To take the place of. transitive
"Those older products have been superseded by our new range."
- 2 take the place or move into the position of wordnet
- 3 To displace in favor of itself. transitive
"Modern US culture has superseded the native forms."
Example
More examples"The woman in the video was dubbed a “Karen.” The term originally referred to an entitled white woman who tries to use her privilege or status in society to threaten or supersede someone in an argument."
Etymology
From Middle French superseder (“postpone, defer”), from Latin supersedēre, from super (“over”) + sedēre (“to sit”). The meaning “to replace” is from 1642, probably by association with unrelated precede – note that c instead of s (from cēdere (“to yield”), not sedēre (“to sit”)). As a result, supercede is a common misspelling – see therein for further discussion. Doublet of surcease.
Related phrases
More for "supersede"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.