superscript
Americanadjective
noun
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a superscript or superior character
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obsolete a superscription on a document, letter, etc
Etymology
Origin of superscript
1580–90; < Latin superscrīptus (past participle of superscrībere to superscribe ), equivalent to super- super- + scrīptus written; script
Explanation
A superscript is a number or letter that's written slightly above another character. When you write out the mathematical expression "x squared," you write the 2 as a superscript, smaller than and raised above the x, like so: x2. Superscripts are frequently found in mathematical formulas and as footnotes in academic texts. You'll see a superscript printed smaller and higher than the rest of the text, which makes it stand out—so it's clear what it indicates, as in the case of exponents or footnotes. Superscript comes from the Latin superscriptus, "written above," and the roots super, "above," and scribere, "to write."
Vocabulary lists containing superscript
Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It had a blue cover, she said, and was unmarked except for “cuaderno de trabajo” written in the italicized superscript taught in elementary schools around Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2024
Move a regular comma up to the superscript position and you’ve got a close quote.
From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2022
What looks like an intuitive depiction about the possibility of ‘time-travel’ actually contains complicated maneuvering of constants and variables with superscript and subscript indices, as well as of manifold geometry.
From Scientific American • Mar. 22, 2013
Word's stylistic preferences range from the irritating—the superscript "th" on ordinal numbers, the eagerness to forcibly indent any numbered list it detects—to the outright wrong.
From Slate • Apr. 11, 2012
The little superscript number signifies the number of zeroes following the larger principal number.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
