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🗓️ 22 June 2024
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 22, 2024 is:
supersede • \soo-per-SEED\ • verb
Supersede is a verb meaning "to take the place of (someone or something that is considered old, inferior, or no longer useful)." It is used synonymously with replace and displace.
// This edition of the manual supersedes the previous one.
Examples:
"The passive-aggressive signals to wind our gatherings down were replaced by point-blank requests to make less noise, have less fun, do our living somewhere else, even though these rooms belonged to us, too. … In those moments, I felt hot with shame and anger, yet unable to articulate why. It took me years to understand that, in demanding my friends and I quiet down, these students were implying that their comfort superseded our joy." — Xochitl Gonzalez, The Atlantic, 1 Aug. 2022
Did you know?
Language is constantly evolving, with old spellings and meanings superseded by new ones over time. Naturally, supersede itself has its share of predecessors. Supersede ultimately comes from the Latin verb supersedēre, meaning "to sit on top of" (sedēre means "to sit"), "to be superior to," or "to refrain from," but it came to English through Scots Middle English, where it was rendered superceden and used synonymously with defer. Modern English speakers are often confused about how to spell supersede—it sometimes turns up as supercede. In fact, some of the earliest records of the word in English show it spelled with a c. Though both spellings can be etymologically justified, over time supersede won out as the "correct" version.
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0:00.0 | It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for June 22nd. |
0:07.0 | Today's word of the day for June 22nd. |
0:11.0 | Today's word is super seed, spelled S-U-P-N-C-C-C-C-C-E-E-S-E-D-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-S-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E, it is a verb. It means to take the place of someone or something that is considered old inferior or no longer useful. |
0:26.0 | It's used synonymously with the words replace and displace. |
0:30.0 | Here's the word used in a sentence from the Atlantic. |
0:33.0 | The passive aggressive signals to wind our gatherings down |
0:37.0 | were replaced by point blank requests to make less noise, have less fun, |
0:41.0 | do our living somewhere else even though these rooms belonged to us too. |
0:47.2 | In those moments I felt hot with shame and anger, yet unable to articulate why. It took me years to understand that in |
0:55.0 | demanding my friends and I quiet down, these students were implying that their |
0:59.3 | comfort superseded our joy. Language is constantly evolving, with old spellings and meanings |
1:07.0 | superseded by new ones over time. Naturally, the word superseded itself has its share of predecessors. |
1:14.0 | Supercede ultimately comes from the Latin verb super sedere, |
1:18.0 | meaning to sit on top of, |
1:20.0 | cidery means to sit, |
1:22.0 | to be superior to or to refrain from, but it came to English through |
1:27.4 | Scott's middle English, where it was rendered super-Sedin, with a C, and used synonymously with the word defer. Modern |
1:36.3 | English speakers are often confused about how to spell supercede. It sometimes |
1:40.9 | turns up with a C instead of an S. |
1:43.0 | In fact, some of the earliest records of the word in English |
1:47.0 | show it spelled with a C. |
1:48.0 | Though both spellings can be etymology |
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