Online Etymology Dictionary

supra-: prefix meaning "above, over, beyond," from L. supra "above, before, beyond," in supera (parte), lit. "on the upper (side)," from old fem. ablative singular of superus (adj.) "above," related to super "above, over" (see super-).
supralapsarian: 1633, see infralapsarian, of which it is the opposite.
supreme: 1523, from M.Fr. suprême, from L. supremus "highest," superlative of superus "situated above," from super "above" (see super-). Supreme Being first attested 1699; Supreme Court is from 1709. Supremacist is attested from 1959, originally with ref. to racial beliefs.
sur-: prefix meaning "over, above, beyond, in addition," especially in words from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr., from O.Fr. sour-, sor-, sur-, from L. super (see super-).
sura: "chapter of the Quran," 1615, from Arabic surah, lit. "step, degree."
surcease: 1428, from Anglo-Fr. surseser, from O.Fr. sursis, pp. of surseoir "to refrain, delay," from L. supersedere (see supersede). The Eng. spelling with -c- was influenced by the unrelated verb cease.
surcharge (v.): 1429, from M.Fr. surcharger, from O.Fr. sur- "over" + chargier "to load" (see charge). The noun is first attested 1569.
surcingle: "a girth for a horse," 1390, from O.Fr. surcengle, from sur- "over" + cengle "a girdle," from L. cingulum "girth" (see cinch).
surcoat: "outer coat," early 14c., from O.Fr. surcote, from sur- "on, upon, over, above" + cote (see coat).
surd: 1551, "irrational" (of numbers), from L. surdus "unheard, silent, dull," possibly related to susurrus "a muttering, whispering" (see susurration). The mathematical sense is from the use of L. surdus to translate Ar. (jadhr) asamm "deaf (root)," itself a loan-translation of Gk. alogos, lit. "speechless, without reason" (Euclid bk. x, Def.). In Fr., sourd remains the principal word for "deaf."
sure: c.1300, "safe, secure," later "mentally certain" (c.1450), from O.Fr. sur, seur "safe, secure," from L. securus "free from care, untroubled, heedless, safe" (see secure). Pronunciation development followed that of sugar. As an affirmative meaning "yes, certainly" it dates from 1803, from M.E. meanings "firmly established, having no doubt," and phrases like to be sure (1657), sure enough (1545), and for sure (1586). The use as a qualifier meaning "assuredly" goes back to 1425. Sure-footed is from 1633; sure-fire first attested 1901; sure thing dates from 1836. In 16c.-17c., Suresby was an appellation for a person to be depended upon.
surety: c.1300, from O.Fr. seurté, from L. securitatem (nom. securitas) "freedom from care or danger, safety, security," from securus (see secure). Until 1966, the Fr. national criminal police department was the Sûreté nationale.
surf (n.): 1685, probably from earlier suffe (1599), of uncertain origin. Originally used in reference to the coast of India, hence perhaps of Indic origin. Or perhaps a phonetic respelling of sough, which meant "a rushing sound." The verb meaning "ride the crest of a wave" is from 1917; surfer, surfing both from 1955. In the Internet sense, first recorded 1993.
surface: 1611, from Fr. surface "outermost boundary of anything, outside part" (16c.), from O.Fr. sur- "above" + face (see face). Patterned on L. superficies "surface" (see superficial). The verb meaning "come to the surface" is first recorded 1898; earlier it meant "bring to the surface" (1885), and "to give something a polished surface" (1778).
surfeit (n.): c.1300, from O.Fr. surfet "excess," noun use of pp. of surfaire "overdo," from sur- "over" + faire "do," from L. facere "to make" (see factitious). The verb is first recorded 1393.
surge (n.): 1490, "fountain, stream," probably from M.Fr. sourge-, stem of sourdre "to rise, swell," from L. surgere "to rise," contraction of surrigere "to rise," from sub "up from below" + regere "to keep straight, guide" (see right). Meaning "high, rolling swell of water" is from 1530; figurative sense of "excited rising up" (as of feelings) is from 1520. The verb is first recorded 1511.
surgeon: c.1300, from Anglo-Fr. surgien (13c.), from O.Fr. serurgien, cirurgien, from cirurgie "surgery," from L. chirurgia, from Gk. kheirourgia, from kheirourgos "working or done by hand," from kheir "hand" + ergon "work" (see urge (v.)). Surgery (c.1300) is from O.Fr. surgerie, contracted from serurgerie, from L.L. chirurgia.
surly: 1566, "lordly, majestic," alteration of M.E. sirly "lordly, imperious" (14c.), from sir. The meaning "rude, gruff" is first attested 1670. For sense development, cf. lordly, and Ger. herrisch "domineering, imperious," from Herr "master, lord."
surmise: c.1400, "to charge, allege," from O.Fr. surmis, pp. of surmettre "to accuse," from sur- "upon" + mettre "put," from L. mittere "to send" (see mission). Meaning "to infer conjecturally" is recorded from 1700. The noun meaning "inference, guess" is first found in Eng. 1590; earlier it was a legal term meaning "formal allegation" (1451).
surmount: c.1369, "to rise above, go beyond," from O.Fr. surmounter "rise above," from sur- "beyond" + monter "to go up" (see mount (v.)). Meaning "to prevail over, overcome" is recorded from 1390.
surname: early 14c., "name, title, or epithet added to a person's name," from sur "above" + name; modeled on Anglo-Fr. surnoun "surname" (early 14c.), variant of O.Fr. surnom, from sur "over" + nom "name." Meaning "family name" is first found late 14c. Hereditary surnames existed among Norman nobility in England in early 12c., among common people began to be used 13c., increasingly frequent until near universal by end of 14c. The process was later in the north of England than the south. The verb is attested from 1540s.
surpass: 1555, from M.Fr. surpasser "go beyond, exceed, excel," from O.Fr. sur- "beyond" + passer "to go by" (see pass (v.)).
surplice: "loose white robe," late 13c., from O.Fr. surpeliz, from M.L. superpellicium "a surplice," lit. "an over fur garment," from L. super "over" (see super-) + M.L. pellicium "fur garment, tunic of skins," from L. pellis "skin." So called because it was put on over fur garments worn by clergymen to keep warm in unheated medieval churches.
surplus: c.1374, from O.Fr. surplus, from M.L. superplus "excess, surplus," from L. super "over" super + plus "more" (see plus).
surprise (n.): c.1457, "unexpected attack or capture," from M.Fr. surprise "a taking unawares," from noun use of pp. of O.Fr. surprendre "to overtake," from sur- "over" + prendre "to take," from L. prendere, contracted from prehendere "to grasp, seize" (see prehensile). Meaning "something unexpected" first recorded 1592, that of "feeling caused by something unexpected" is 1608. Meaning "fancy dish" is attested from 1708.
"A Surprize is ... a dish ... which promising little from its first appearance, when open abounds with all sorts of variety." [W. King, "Cookery," 1708]
The verb is from 1474. Surprise party originally was a military detachment (1841); festive sense is attested from 1858.
surrealism: 1927, from Fr. surréalisme (from sur- "beyond" + réalisme "realism"), coined c.1917 by Guillaume Apollinaire, taken over by Andre Breton as the name of the movement he launched in 1924 with "Manifeste de Surréalisme." Taken up in Eng. at first in the Fr. form; the Anglicized version is from 1931; surreal is a 1936 back-formation.
"De cette alliance nouvelle, car jusqu'ici les décors et les costumes d'une part, la chorégraphie d'autre part, n'avaient entre eux qu'un lien factice, il este résulté, dans 'Parade,' une sorte de surréalisme." [Apollinaire, "Notes to 'Parade' "]
surrender: 1441, "to give (something) up," from O.Fr. surrendre "give up, deliver over" (13c.), from sur- "over" + rendre "give back" (see render). Reflexive sense of "to give oneself up" (especially as a prisoner) is from 1585. The noun is recorded from 1487.
surreptitious: 1443, from L. surrepticius "stolen, furtive, clandestine," from surreptus, pp. of surripere "seize secretly," from sub "from under" (hence, "secretly") + rapere "to snatch" (see rapid).
surrey: "two-seated, four-wheeled pleasure carriage," 1895, from Surrey cart, an English pleasure cart (introduced in U.S. 1872), named for Surrey, England, where it was first made. The place name is O.E. suþrige (722), lit. "Southerly District" (relative to Middlesex).
surrogate: 1430, from L. surrogatus, pp. of surrogare "put in another's place, substitute," from sub "in the place of, under" + rogare "to ask, propose" (see rogation). Meaning "woman pregnant with the fertilized egg of another woman" is attested from 1978.
surround: 1423, "to flood, overflow," from M.Fr. soronder "to overflow, abound, surpass, dominate," from L.L. superundare "overflow," from L. super "over" (see super-) + undare "to flow in waves," from unda "wave" (see water; and cf. abound). Sense of "to shut in on all sides" first recorded 1616, influenced by figurative meaning in Fr. of "dominate," and by sound association with round. First record of surroundings in sense of "environment" is from 1861.
surtax: "extra tax," 1881, from Fr. surtaxe, from O.Fr. sur- "over" + taxe "tax" (see tax).
surveillance: 1802, from Fr. surveillance "oversight, supervision, a watch," noun of action from surveiller "oversee, watch," from sur- "over" + veiller "to watch," from L. vigilare, from vigil "watchful" (see vigil). Seemingly a word of the Terror in France. A hideous back-formation, surveille (v.), was coined in 1960 in U.S. government jargon. Pray that it dies.
survey (v.): late 14c. (implied in surveyance), from O.Fr. surveeir, from M.L. supervidere "oversee" (see supervise). Meaning "to take linear measurements of a tract of ground" is recorded from 1550. The noun is attested from 1548, "act of viewing in detail." Meaning "systematic collection of data on opinions, etc." is attested from 1927. Surveyor is from Anglo-Fr. surveiour, from M.Fr. surveor, from O.Fr. verb surveeir.
survive: 1473, originally in the legal (inheritance) sense, from Anglo-Fr. survivre, from O.Fr. souvivre, from L. supervivere "live beyond, live longer than," from super "over, beyond" (see super-) + vivere "to live" (see vivid). Survival is attested from 1598; phrase survival of the fittest was used by Spencer in place of Darwin's natural selection. Survivable "capable of being survived" is attested from 1961. Survivalist "one who practices outdoor survival skills" (often in anticipation of apocalypse or in fear of the government) is recorded from 1985.
survivor: 1504, in the legal sense of "one who outlives another," from survive. Meaning "one who has a knack for pulling through adversity" is attested from 1971. Survivor syndrome is first recorded 1968.
Susanna: fem. proper name, from L. Susanna, from Gk. Sousana, from Heb. Shoshannah, lit. "a lily." One of the women that attended Jesus in his journeys.
susceptible: 1605 (susceptive in the same sense is recorded from 1548), from L.L. susceptibilis "capable, sustainable, susceptible," from L. susceptus, pp. of suscipere "sustain, support, acknowledge," from sub "up from under" + capere "to take" (see capable).
suspect (adj.): 1340, from O.Fr. suspect "suspicious," from L. suspectus "suspected, suspicious," pp. of suspicere "look up at, mistrust, suspect," from sub "up to" + specere "to look at" (see scope (1)). The notion is of "look at secretly," hence, "look at distrustfully." The verb is attested from 1483; the noun meaning "a suspected person" is first recorded 1591.
suspend: late 13c., "to bar or exclude temporarily from some function or privilege, to cause to cease for a time," from O.Fr. suspendre, from L. suspendere "to hang, stop," from sub "up from under" + pendere "cause to hang, weigh" (see pendant). The lit. sense of "to cause to hang by a support from above" is recorded from mid-15c. Suspenders is attested from 1810, Amer.Eng. Suspended animation first recorded 1795.
suspense: 1402, "not being executed, unfulfilled" (of legal matters), from Anglo-Fr. suspens (in en suspens "in abeyance," 1306), from O.Fr. suspens "act of suspending," from L. suspensus, pp. of suspendere (see suspend). Meaning "state of mental uncertainty" (1440) is from legal meaning of "not rendered, not paid, not carried out" (e.g. suspended sentence). As a genre of novels, stories, etc., attested from 1952.
suspension: 1421, "temporary halting or deprivation," from L. suspensionem (nom. suspensio) "the act or state of hanging up, a vaulting," from pp. stem of suspendere "to hang" (see suspend).
"A semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." [Coleridge, "Biographia Literaria," 1817]
Meaning "action of hanging by a support from above" is attested from 1546. Suspension bridge first recorded 1821.
suspicion: late 13c., from Anglo-Fr. suspecioun, from O.Fr. suspeçun, sospeçon "mistrust, suspicion" (Fr. soupçon), from L. suspectionem (nom. suspectio) "mistrust, suspicion, fear, awe," from pp. stem of suspicere "look up at" (see suspect). Spelling in English influenced 14c. by learned O.Fr. forms closer to Latin suspicionem.
suspicious: "deserving of or exciting suspicion," mid-14c., from O.Fr. suspecious, from L. suspicious "exciting suspicion" (see suspicion). Meaning "full of or inclined to feel suspicion" is attested from c.1400. Edgar Allan Poe (c.1845) proposed suspectful to take one of the two conflicting senses.
suspire: 1450, from L. suspirare "to draw a deep breath, sigh," from sub "under" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit).
suss (v.): "to figure out, investigate and discover," 1966, earlier "to suspect" (1953, police jargon), a slang shortening of suspect (v.).
sustain: late 13c., from O.Fr. sustenir "hold up, endure," from L. sustinere "hold up, support, endure," from sub "up from below" + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Sustainable growth is recorded from 1965.
sustenance: c.1300, "means of living, subsistence, livelihood," from O.Fr. sustenance (Fr. soutenance), from L.L. sustinentia "endurance," from L. sustinens, prp. of sustinere (see sustain). Meaning "action of sustaining life by food" is from late 14c. Sense of "nourishment" is recorded from c.1489.
susurration: "whisper, murmur," c.1400, from L. susurrationem (nom. susurratio), from pp. of susurrare, from susurrus "murmur, whisper," a reduplication of the PIE imitative base *swer- (cf. Skt. svarati "sounds, resounds," Gk. syrinx "flute," L. surdus "dull, mute," O.C.S. svirati "to whistle," Lith. surmo "pipe, shawm," Ger. schwirren "to buzz," O.E. swearm "swarm").
sutler: "person who follows an army to sell food to soldiers," 1590, from M.Du. soeteler "small tradesman, sutler, camp cook" (Du. zoetelaar), cognate with M.L.G. suteler, sudeler "person who performs dirty tasks," M.H.G. sudelen "to cook badly," M.Du. soetelen "to cook badly." Probably related to Du. zieder, Ger. sieden "to seethe" (see seethe).