Superhuman

How to spell superhuman

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce superhuman

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does superhuman mean?

1. adjectiveHaving or showing power, strength, or ability far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Superhuman in a sentence

• The rescue team made a superhuman effort to free the trapped miners.

• Meeting that deadline would require almost superhuman concentration.

Where does superhuman come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word joins the Latin prefix super-, meaning 'above' or 'beyond', to 'human', which descends from the Latin humanus, the adjective for 'belonging to people' built on homo, meaning 'a human being'. The prefix super- was a common Latin element that English borrowed many times to mean 'over and above the ordinary', as in 'supernatural' and 'superior'. The compound 'superhuman' appeared in English in the early 1600s to describe powers or qualities that exceed those a normal person could possess. Because the word is simply 'super' fastened directly to 'human' with no joining letter, the spelling is regular and predictable; the only thing to watch is keeping the single shared 'h' of human and resisting the urge to add a hyphen. The same homo root, meaning 'human being', also gives us 'homicide' and 'homage'.

How the word is built

• super- (above, beyond)
• human (relating to people, from Latin humanus)