supersede

[soo-per-seed]

verb (used with object)

superseded, superseding 

1. to replace in power, authority, effectiveness, acceptance, use, etc., as by another person or thing.

2. to set aside or cause to be set aside as void, useless, irrelevant, or obsolete, usually in consideration of something mentioned.

   The success of the vaccine superseded the necessity of a smallpox hospital, and the enterprise was abandoned almost as soon as conceived.

   Synonyms: rescind, revoke, annul, overrule, void

3. to succeed to the position, function, office, etc., of; supplant.

supersede

/ ˌsuːpəˈsiːdʒə, ˌsuːpəˈsiːd, ˌsuːpəˈsɛʃən /

verb

1. to take the place of (something old-fashioned or less appropriate); supplant

2. to replace in function, office, etc; succeed

3. to discard or set aside or cause to be set aside as obsolete or inferior

Other Word Forms

• supersedable adjective
• superseder noun
• unsuperseding adjective
• supersedure noun
• supersedence noun
• supersession noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of supersede¹

First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin supersedēre “to sit above or upon, forbear,” equivalent to super- super- + sedēre “to sit”; sit ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of supersede¹

C15: via Old French from Latin supersedēre to sit above, from _super- + sedēre to sit

Synonym Study

See replace.

Example Sentences

He also claimed UK courts had decided the rights of undocumented migrants superseded those of the "local community".

From BBC

“The common dominator in all of this is the gun. At some level, the sanctity and the misapplication of the Second Amendment can’t supersede every conversation about the lives of our kids,” he said.

From Salon

The new maps would supersede the ones devised just four years ago by an independent redistricting commission established to keep politics out of the process, which typically occurs once a decade after the latest census.

From Los Angeles Times

She said she believed that three years into the war, with hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded on the Ukrainian side alone, the preservation of life superseded all concerns over land.

From BBC

A ruling by a Kern County Superior Court judge that found the certification process under the card-check law as “likely unconstitutional” was superseded in October by an appellate court, which is still reviewing the case.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• annul 
• overrule 
• repudiate 
• set aside 
• supplant 
• usurp