supernal

English

WOTD – 26 December 2009

Etymology

From Old French supernel or Medieval Latin supernalis, from Latin supernus, from superum (“celestial regions, heavenly bodies”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /suːˈpɜː.nəl/, /sjuːˈpɜː.nəl/, /sʊˈpɜː.nəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /suˈpɝ.nəl/, /sʊˈpɝ.nəl/, /səˈpɝ.nəl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

supernal (comparative more supernal, superlative most supernal)

1. Pertaining to heaven or to the sky; celestial.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     […] and there, after due prayers to the gods who dwell in ether supernal, had taken solemn counsel whereby they might, if so be it might be, bring once more into honour among mortal men the winged speech of the seadivided Gael.

2. Exalted, exquisite, superlative.
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, “chapter 6”, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

     Even the sunlight assumed a supernal glamour, as if some special atmosphere or exhalation mantled the whole region.

   • 1963, Thomas Pynchon, V.:

     Pig, not normally reticent in these matters, now acted like a mystic after a vision; unable, maybe unwilling, to put in words this ineffable or supernal talent of Panky’s.

   • 1974, Michael Kandel, The Cyberiad, translation of original by Stanisław Lem:

     For what did Cauchy know, or Christoffel,
     Or Fourier, or any Boole or Euler,
     Wielding their compasses, their pens and rulers,
     Of thy supernal sinusoidal spell?

Synonyms

• (pertaining to heaven): celestial, heavenly
• (exalted, exquisite): exalted, exquisite

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “pertaining to heaven”): earthly, infernal
• (antonym(s) of “exalted, exquisite”): infernal

Related terms

• asternal
• autumnal
• carnal
• diurnal
• eternal
• external
• fraternal
• hibernal
• infernal
• internal
• maternal
• nocturnal
• paternal
• sempiternal
• sternal
• vernal

 

Translations

pertaining to heaven or to the sky

• Bulgarian: небесен (bg) (nebesen), божествен (bg) (božestven)
• Finnish: taivaallinen (fi)
• French: céleste (fr)
• German: himmlisch (de), überirdisch (de)
• Italian: celeste (it), celestiale (it)
• Latin: supernus
• Norwegian: hinsides, overjordisk, som kommer fra det høye, guddommelig (no), himmelsk
• Polish: niebiański (pl)
• Russian: небе́сный (ru) (nebésnyj), боже́ственный (ru) (božéstvennyj), неземной (ru) (nezemnoj)
• Spanish: celestial (es)
• Swedish: himmelsk (sv)

exalted, exquisite, superlative

• Finnish: ylivertainen (fi)
• French: paradisiaque (fr), ravissant (fr), sublime (fr), ineffable (fr), exquis (fr)
• German: überzogen (de), exaltiert (de)
• Polish: cudowny (pl)
• Russian: необозримый (ru) (neobozrimyj), необъятный (ru) (neobʺjatnyj), бескрайний (ru) (beskrajnij)
• Spanish: paradisiaco (es), encantador (es), sublime (es), inefable (es), exquisito (es)

Anagrams

• purslane