Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,809,762,467 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

superman

   Also found in: Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
su·per·man  (spr-mn)
n.
1. A man with more than human powers.
2. An ideal superior man who, according to Nietzsche, forgoes transient pleasure, exercises creative power, lives at a level of experience beyond standards of good and evil, and is the goal of human evolution. Also called overman.

[Translation of German Übermensch : über-, super- + Mensch, man.]
Word History: Superman, the all-American 20th-century comic-book hero, takes his name from the 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's term for the ideal superior man, which is Übermensch in German. Übermensch might also have been translated Overman or Beyondman, but a work by George Bernard Shaw published in 1903 helped to established the English term for Nietzsche's concept as superman. Such a term comes to us through a process called loan translation, or calque formation, whereby the semantic components of a word or phrase in one language are translated literally into their equivalents in another language. German Übermensch is made up of über-, "over, beyond, super-," and Mensch, "man." We also find overman and beyondman as calques for the word Übermensch, but they did not take root.

superman [ˈsuːpəˌmæn]
n pl -men
1. (Philosophy) (in the philosophy of Nietzsche) an ideal man who through integrity and creativity would rise above good and evil and who represents the goal of human evolution
2. any man of apparently superhuman powers
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.supermansuperman - a person with great powers and abilities
leader - a person who rules or guides or inspires others
2.supermansuperman - street name for lysergic acid diethylamide
LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide - a powerful hallucinogenic drug manufactured from lysergic acid
Translations
superman [ˈsuːpəmæn] N (supermen (pl)) → superhombre m

superman [ˈsuːpərmæn] nsurhomme m

superman
n pl <-men> → Übermensch m; Superman (in comics) → Supermann m

superman [ˈsuːpəˌmæn] n (-men (pl)) → superuomo
superman [ˈsuːpəˌmæn] n (-men (pl)) → superuomo

superman
n superman [ˈsuːpəmӕn]
an imagined man of the future with amazing powers a race of supermen. superman سوبرمان: الإنْسان الأعْلى، الفَوْقي، الكامِل، الأرْقى супермен nadčlověk supermand der Supermann υπεράνθρωπος superhombre supermees, supermen ابرمرد supermies surhomme סוּפֵרמֶן अतिमानव supermen, natčovjek felsőbbrendű ember manusia unggul ofurmenni superuomo スーパーマン 초인 antžmogis pārcilvēks lelaki yang luar biasa kuatnya supermens overmenneske nadczłowiek superhomem superman, supraom супермен nadčlovek, superman nadčlovek natčovek övermänniska, stålman ยอดมนุษย์ süpermen 超人 супермен فوق انسانی siêu nhân


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Add definition
? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
For instance, the ideal of the Superman is put forth quite clearly in all his writings during the years
The superman manipulated the strings, and when robbery of the workers became too slow or monotonous, they turned loose and robbed one another.
No superman ever said 'I want,' because 'I want' must lead to the question, 'Who am I?
 
Dictionary/thesaurus browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a Terms of Use.