over-

See also: over, över, Över, øver, and över-

English

Etymology

From Middle English over-, from Old English ofer-, from Proto-Germanic *uber, from Proto-Indo-European *upér. Cognate with Dutch over-, German über-, Swedish över-, Welsh gor-, Spanish sobre-, Armenian վեր- (ver-), Persian ابر (abar-). Doublet of super-, sur-, and hyper-. More at over.

Pronunciation

• • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ̯və/, [ˈəʊ̯.və]
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ̯vəɹ/, [ˈoʊ.vɚ]
  • (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɐʉ̯və/, [ˈɐʉ̯.vɐ]
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): [ˈo̝.vər]
  • (India) IPA^(key): [ˈoː.bʱə(ɾ)]

Prefix

over-

2. Above, or higher.

   overbar, overlook

4. Superior.

   overlord

6. Excessive; excessively.

   overkind, overloud, overstate

8. Surrounding or covering.

   overcoat, overpaint

10. (augmentative) Exceptional; extremely or intensely.

Usage notes

Comparison of relative combinations (two separate words, hyphenated or a single compound word) does not easily fit a pattern; terms become compound words as they are broadly accepted.

Synonyms

• (excessively): hyper-, ultra-, ana-
• (augmentative): super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, macro-, arch-, mega-, giga-, -zilla, grand

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with over-

Translations

above or higher

• Armenian: վեր- (ver-), վերա- (vera-)
• Azerbaijani: ifrat-
• Catalan: sobre- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 過度／过度 (zh) (guòdù)

• Czech: přes-, pře- (cs)
• French: sur- (fr)
• Georgian: ზე- (ze-)
• German: über- (de)
• Hungarian: felül- (hu)
• Italian: sopra- (it)
• Latin: super-
• Portuguese: sobre- (pt), super- (pt)
• Russian: пере- (ru) (pere-), сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scots: ower-
• Scottish Gaelic: tar-
• Spanish: super- (es), sobre- (es)
• Swedish: compounds with över (sv)
• Yiddish: איבער־ (iber-)

superior

• Azerbaijani: ifrat-
• Czech: přes-
• Georgian: ზე- (ze-)
• Portuguese: sobre- (pt), super- (pt)
• Russian: пере- (ru) (pere-), сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scots: ower-
• Swedish: compounds with över (sv)

excessively

• Azerbaijani: ifrat-
• Catalan: excés m (with nouns only), sobre- (ca)
• Czech: přes-
• French: excès (fr) (with nouns only), sur- (fr)
• Galician: sobre- (gl), super- (gl)
• Hungarian: túl- (hu), agyon- (hu)
• Italian: eccesso (it) (with nouns only), sopra- (it)
• Latin: nimius
• Portuguese: sobre- (pt), super- (pt), excesso (pt) (with nouns only)
• Russian: пере- (ru) (pere-), сверх- (ru) (sverx-)
• Scots: ower-
• Scottish Gaelic: tar-
• Spanish: super- (es), sobre- (es), exceso (es) m (with nouns only), hiper- (es), demasiado (es), excesivamente (es)
• Swedish: compounds with över (sv)

Anagrams

• -vore, Vore, rove, vore

Danish

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ubar- (“over-”). Cognate with Dutch over-, German über-, English over-, Swedish över-. More at over.

Prefix

over-

1. usually the same as over- in English.

See also

Danish terms prefixed with over-

Dutch

Etymology

See over

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

over-

1. prepended to verbs; denotes that action takes place over the object

   Hij oversproeide de planten.

   He sprayed over the plants.

2. prepended to verbs, nouns and adjectives; denotes that the action or state takes place excessively

   De man overeet zich.

   The man overeats.

Dutch terms prefixed with over-

Usage notes

The second meaning is not shared by compounds with the adverb over.

Norwegian Bokmål

Prefix

over-

1. usually the same as over- in English.

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with over-

References

• “over-” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Prefix

over-

1. usually the same as over- in English.

See also

Norwegian Nynorsk terms prefixed with over-