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• sur
  sur

  preposition

  upon; on the basis of.
• Sur
  Sur

  noun

  a town in S Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea: site of ancient port of Tyre.
• sur-
  sur-

  a prefix meaning “over, above,” “in addition,” occurring mainly in loanwords from French and partial calques of French words.

sur

¹ American  

[sur] / sɜr /

preposition

Law.

1. upon; on the basis of.

   sur mortgage.

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Sur ² American  

[soor] / sʊər /

noun

1. a town in S Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea: site of ancient port of Tyre.

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sur- ³ American  

1. a prefix meaning “over, above,” “in addition,” occurring mainly in loanwords from French and partial calques of French words.

   surcharge; surname; surrender; survive.

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sur- ⁴ American  

1. variant of sub- before r: surrogate.

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Sur ¹ British  

/ sʊə /

noun

1. transliteration of the Arabic name for Tyre

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sur- ² British  

prefix

1. over; above; beyond Compare super-

   surcharge

   surrealism

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sur- ³ British  

prefix

1. a variant of sub-

   surrogate

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Etymology

Origin of sur¹

< French < Latin super super-

Origin of sur-³

Middle English < Old French < Latin super- super-

Example Sentences

My physical, emotional, and spiritual beings were completely blending with the sur- roundings.

From Salon • Nov. 19, 2021

Those  actors were paralyz- ingly dependent on aluminum, sugar,  coffee,  and  jet fuel for sur- vival, but were, almost  without  exception, unable to keep  up with the  commodity traders at banks  and  hedge funds.

From MSNBC • Jun. 4, 2014

But Dr. Balfour finds that nine out of ten patients can sur- vive the operation.

From Time Magazine Archive

To my sur- prise, he said, 'I am not kidding.

From Time Magazine Archive

NOTE.—In derivatives through the French, super- takes the form sur-, as sur-vey, to look over.

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton