Superior /(?)/

Su·pe·ri·or

Superior

a.
  1. More elevated in place or position; higher; upper; as, the superior limb of the sun; the superior part of an image.
  2. Higher in rank or office; more exalted in dignity; as, a superior officer; a superior degree of nobility.
  3. Higher or greater in excellence; surpassing others in the greatness, or value of any quality; greater in quality or degree; as, a man of superior merit; or of superior bravery.
  4. Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by; -- with to.
    There is not in earth a spectacle more worthy than a great man superior to his sufferings.
    — Spectator.
  5. More comprehensive; as a term in classification; as, a genus is superior to a species.
  6. Above the ovary; -- said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part; also of an ovary when the other floral organs are plainly below it in position, and free from it. (Bot.)

Phrases & Compounds

Superior conjunction
See Conjunction, Planet, etc.
Superior figure
a figure or letter printed above the line, as a reference to a note or an index of a power, etc; as, in x2 + yn, 2 is a superior figure, n a superior letter. Cf. Inferior figure, under Inferior.

Superior

n.
  1. One who is above, or surpasses, another in rank, station, office, age, ability, or merit; one who surpasses in what is desirable; as, Addison has no superior as a writer of pure English.
  2. The head of a monastery, convent, abbey, or the like. (Eccl.)