overmagt

Danish

Etymology

over (“over”) +‎ magt (“might”), compare Swedish övermakt, German Übermacht, Dutch overmacht.

Noun

overmagt

1. supremacy; superiority in might (especially military might)
2. a hegemon; a supreme party; a party that is overwhelmingly stronger than other parties
   • 2016, Bjørn Harvig, Bosniske Brødre: Historier fra en fodrejse, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     Folk her har gennem generationer været berygtede for deres modstandskamp mod de truende overmagter.

     Through generations, people here have been infamous for their battle of resistance against the threatening stronger powers.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Karen Blixen, Mit livs mottoer og andre essays, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     Hvor ville det også i historien – der kan siges at være en destillation af alle aviser – have været en glansfuld gestus for Det Tredje Rige at være kommet et lille folk til hjælp imod en overmagt.

     How would it in history - which can be said to be a distillation of all newspapers - have been a glamorous gesture for the Third Reich to have come to the aid of a small people against a stronger power.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Valdemar Vedel, Helteliv. En studie over heltedigtningens grundtræk, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Heltedigtningen bæres af en Bevidsthed — halvt pessimistisk, halvt trøstende for Hverdagsmennesker — om at selv de Største finder deres Grænser, finder en Overmagt over sig, og at just de er mest forfulgte af Vanskæbne, ...

     The epic tradition is carried by an awareness - half pessimistic, half consoling for everyday people - that even the greatest find their limits, find some stronger power above themselves, and that precisely they are most haunted by misfortune, ...