over-

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

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

    Prefix

    over-

    1. Above, or higher.
      overbar, overlook
    2. Superior.
      overlord
    3. Excessive; excessively.
      overkind, overloud, overstate
    4. Surrounding or covering.
      overcoat, overpaint
    5. (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

    Derived terms

    English terms prefixed with over-

    Translations

    Anagrams

    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

    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.

    Usage notes

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

    Derived terms

    Dutch terms prefixed with over-

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Prefix

    over-

    1. usually the same as over- in English.

    Derived terms

    References

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Prefix

    over-

    1. usually the same as over- in English.

    See also