English edit

Etymology edit

From over +‎ -ling on analogy with underling, or as a revived or dialectal term from Middle English overling (a superior), equivalent to over +‎ -ling.

Noun edit

overling (plural overlings)

  1. (rare) A superior.
    • 1917, Rudyard Kipling, Mesopotamia (poem)
      But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died, [...]
    • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:
      Reflex laughs from the underlings present, though only grim smiles from the overlings.
  2. (UK dialectal) A ruler; master.

Antonyms edit

References edit

  • Oxford English Dictionary

Anagrams edit