Etymograph

English

superstition

Superstition comes from Latin superstāre ‘to stand above, to stand upon, to survive’, and goes back to stāre.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstāre‘to stand’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperstāre‘to stand above, to stand upon, to survive’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperstitio
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600superstition
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1837superstition

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstāre‘to stand’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperstāre‘to stand above, to stand upon, to survive’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperstitio
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600superstition
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1837superstition

Earliest quotation: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Changes in London: “What children we are in trifles! what slight things…”

Linked words

through Latin stāre ‘to stand’

stable, stance, 3 more

Today it means

noun A belief considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based solely on fear and ignorance, particularly credulous reverence towards and belief in supernatural forces.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin stāre / superstition

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