>On 16 Sep 2000, Perl6 RFC Librarian wrote:
>> Supercedes: RFC 212
>"Supersedes" is usually spelled with an S in the middle. (Compare also
>http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-usefor-article-03.txt
>[grandson-of-RFC1036], section 6.13, for the spelling; it, too, uses S.)
Must be, in fact, at least in modern spelling. The -c- vs -s-
distinction completely changes its meaning. That's because "supersede"
derives from super- + -sede (and that from L sedere). It's not a
bit like "intercede". Consider:
inter- = between
super- = above
sedere = to sit,settle
cedere = to go,move,run
So you see how those combine quite differently. Thus, to supersede
is to "sit on top of" something. It does not mean to "run/go on
top of something".
"Supersede" is the only such -sede word in extant use in English;
"obsede" and "possede" are gratuitous/dubious Gallicisms. Yes, I
know--that was redundant :-).
Another use of its stem (from sedere) is found in such things as
the See of Rome, the Holy See, or the Apostolic See (which comes
from the literal "Sedes Apostolica"). Those are all "sees" as in
"seats".
These may seem rare, but supersede's stem is surely familiar to you
in initial position; consider "sedate", "sedative", "sedentary",
and "sedimentary", as well as the the more distantly related "sedate",
or for the closet classicists amongst you, the considerably more
abstruse "sedent", "sederunt", and "sedile". However, this list
notably enough does not include "sedition", which is actually more
akin to "seduction", nor perhaps of course "Seder", which is an
unrelated Hebrew word.
These are all rather different from "concede", "intercede",
"precede", "recede", and "secede", or even from "exceed", "proceed",
and "succeed".
I hope this all sits well with you. :-)
--tom
