supersede 復習
The home secretary is politically dead: long live the home secretary. Amber Rudd having sinned, and having in recent days performed her duty as a lightning rod for a perennially sinful prime minister, has been cast aside. Her successor will seek to draw the line on Windrush. The prime minister, as far as she is able, will huddle down in her safe room. …
Not perhaps the unequivocal embrace of diverse Britain some would like, but a clear indication that an argument abut fairness, properly framed, can supersede even the post-Brexit vote hostility to difference. Whitehall might bear that in mind before embarking again on schemes to further disadvantage the disadvantaged. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、supersede /sùːpɚsíːd/ です。super- は接頭辞で「上の、超えて」の意味を持ちますが、super- + sede はどういった表現でしょうか。以下で確認していきます。
まず意味を Cambridge Dictionary でみると、“to replace something, especially something older or more old-fashioned” とあり、LDOCE には “if a new idea, product, or method supersedes another one, it becomes used instead because it is more modern or effective” と定義されていました。
次に語源を OED でみると、“Late 15th century (in the sense ‘postpone, defer’): from Old French superseder, from Latin supersedere ‘be superior to’, from super- ‘above’ + sedere ‘sit’. The current sense dates from the mid 17th century.” とありました。
以上のことから、supersede は「(古いもの・時代遅れのもの)にとって代わる」という意味を持つことがわかりました。(OkaUchi)
