v. Forms: 5–9 supercede, (6 Sc. -ceid, 6–7 -sead, -e, Sc. 6–7 -seid, 7 -cid, -seed), 6– supersede. [a. OF. superceder, later -seder, ad. L. supersedēre (in med.L. often -cedere) to sit above, be superior to, refrain from, omit, in med.L. to succeed to an estate, f. super- SUPER- I, II + sedēre to SIT. Cf. It. soprassedere, Sp. sobreseer.]
† 1. trans. To postpone, defer, put off, suspend the execution of. Sc. Obs.
1491. Acta Dom. Conc. (1839), 196/2. He sall supercede þe payment of þe said vc frankis.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, II. xxi. (S.T.S.), I. 214. Þe equis and Wolschis wald supersede þare batall na langare bot quhil þe recent doloure of þare last discomfitoure war ourepast.
1580–1. Reg. Privy Council Scot., Ser. I. III. 346. His Majestie … will caus superceid the executioun of rigour of his lawis … aganis thame for sum ressonable space.
1618. Ld. Dunfermline, Lett., in G. Seton, Mem., vi. (1882), 126. I … am content ye superseid the outredding of the warke, till your leisour and commoditie permitt you to see it donne.
1646. Sir T. Hope, Lett., in Misc. Scott. Hist. Soc. (1893), I. 135. I sall labour … to supercid the bargen of the land to zour awin coming.
† b. To defer taking action with respect to; to put aside (a thing); to put off (a person). Sc. Obs.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, II. xxi. (S.T.S.), I. 214. Thus mycht nowthir þare weris-be supersedit [orig. omitti] nor ȝit clerely dantit. Ibid., IV. xxii. II. 130. How þe romanis send þare legatis to Veanis to desire reddres…; how þe veanis war supersedit for þe Civil divisioun amang þame.
1591. Exch. Rolls Scotl., XXII. 572. Johne Chalmer … promest faithfullie to caus him compeir the said day … and the thesaurar hes superceidit him quhill the said day.
† c. intr. or absol. To defer action, to delay, hesitate. Sc. Obs.
c. 1550. Rolland, Crt. Venus, II. 164. Without mair baid thay wald not superseid. Ibid., 624. To clym ȝone Cord faith I will superseid.
1639. Sir T. Hope, Lett., in Misc. Scott. Hist. Soc. (1893), I. 110. If ye resolue to supercid at hir request till Witsonday.
† d. intr. for pass. To be postponed. Sc. Obs.
1569. Reg. Privy Council Scot., Ser. I. I. 687. His bill of complaint; quhairupoun answer wes to superceid quhill his Graces cuming.
† 2. trans. To desist from, discontinue (a procedure, an attempt, etc.); not to proceed with. Obs.
1527. St. Papers Hen. VIII., I. 246. I could not see, but Your bothe Majesties must supersede and give place to your ardent appetites, in concluding of the said mariage.
1589. Warner, Alb. Eng., VI. xxxiii. (1612), 162. Then beleeue I loue it more Than that for other law than Life to Supersead my Clame.
1661. Glanvill, Van. Dogm., 250. But I shall supersede this endless attempt.
1687. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 256. Wee doe hereby direct you … to supersead and forbeare all prosecution.
1709. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), II. 165. His warrant for superseding the Execution.
1721. Col. Rec. Pennsylv., III. 142. [That] the new road now complained of by the Petitioners be for the present Superseded.
1750. Carte, Hist. Eng., II. 361. The king … superseded all his other preparations for the invasion of Scotland.
† b. intr. To desist, forbear, refrain. Const. from the action, or inf. Obs.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 88. The king tuik werie heavie with this heigh contempt bot superceidit for the tyme.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 127. Of vthiris Magistratis to make mentione,… I superseid and pas ouir.
1624. Bp. Mountagu, in Cosin’s Corr. (Surtees), I. 24. I have sent for my papers from my Lord Keper, and have them: therefore let your Lord supersede from asking.
1644. [H. Parker], Jus Populi, 19. I shall have occasion to be more large hereafter upon this, and therefore I now supersede.
1706. T. Lining, in A. Shields, Church-Communion, A 4. Lest I should darken counsel by Words without Knowledge, I shall supersede.
1850. F. W. Newman, Phases of Faith, 177. I therefore quite supersede to name the many other difficulties in detail.
† c. trans. To cause to forbear, to restrain. Obs.
1675. V. Alsop, Anti-Sozzo, Pref. I was superseded a while by a more weighty Consideration.
† 3. To refrain from (discourse, disquisition); to omit to mention, refrain from mentioning. Obs.
1586. Warner, Alb. Eng., III. xviii. 74. Ye Mars-stard Pichtes … Ye Dardan Brutes,… I superseade the rest: Ye come to fight.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 230. I superseed any further discourse heereof, till we come to the declaration of the greater beast.
1671. R. Bohun, Wind, 35. I supersede many remarks from our Sea voyages;… and shall instance only two.
1675. V. Alsop, Anti-Sozzo, i. 27. Of which supposed Order … I shall supersede any further Disquisition at present.
1689. T. Plunket, Char. Gd. Commander, etc., Ded. 93. One thing … I cannot supersede,… And that is,… Here to record what should be known to all.
† 4. To put a stop to (legal proceedings, etc.); to stop, stay. (Cf. SUPERSEDEAS.) Obs.
a. 1662. Heylin, Laud (1668), 111. Inhibiting all Processes, and Superseding all proceedings against Recusants.
1812. Examiner, 25 May, 324/2. Bankruptcy Superseded. J. Boone, Piccadilly, haberdasher.
1838. W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., Supersedere, is … a private agreement amongst creditors … that they will supersede or sist diligence, for a certain period.
b. Law. To discharge by a writ of supersedeas.
1817. W. Tidd, Pract. Crts. King’s B. & Com. Pleas (ed. 6), I. xiv. 371. If the defendant be superseded, or supersedeable, for want of proceedings before judgment, the plaintiff may nevertheless take or charge him in execution, at any time after judgment.
1831–2. [see SUPERSEDABLE].
† 5. To render superfluous or unnecessary; to preclude the necessity of. Obs.
1663. R. Loveday’s Lett., To Rdr. This ingenuous Author, whose blamelesse repute, and fair deportment … superseded all censure.
1673. R. Allestree, Ladies Calling, II. iii. § 1. 210. Widowhood, which tho it supersedes those duties which were terminated meerly in the person of the husband, yet it endears those which may be paid to his ashes.
1684. Ray, Lett. to H. Sloane, 11 Feb. It is not my intention to supersede the use of any approved botanic authors.
a. 1699. Stillingfl., Serm. John iv. 24, Wks. 1710, I. 609. The Gospel doth not supersede any Reasonable Duties of Divine Worship.
1729. Butler, Serm., Pref., Wks. 1874, II. 21. Resentment cannot supersede the obligation to universal benevolence.
1797. Burke, Regic. Peace, iii. Wks. 1808, VIII. 289. The mortal animosity of the regicide enemy supersedes all other panegyrick.
† b. With dat. of the person: To spare a person (trouble). Hence, to relieve (a person) from a task. Obs.
1657. Sanderson, Serm., Pref. § 5. Much of which having … received its answer beforehand … might supersede me the labour of adding any more now.
1660. Stillingfl., Iren., II. v. § 1 (1662), 200. Three might have been superceded from our former labour, but that [etc.].
6. To make of no effect; to render void, nugatory or useless; to annul; to override. ? Obs.
1654. Gayton, Pleas. Notes, III. viii. 117. A superannuate Creature, who (notwithstanding that her yeares did supercede her vocation) prudently shifted her Trade into that of a Matron.
a. 1676. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. ii. (1677), 60. The contrary command of the Will supersedes the command of the Appetite; the Appetite desires it, but the Hand is forbidden by the Will to reach it.
1790. Burke, Rev. France, 312. The municipalities supersede the orders of the assembly, and the seamen in their turn supersede the orders of the municipalities.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, XV. 128. How vain … the hope to supersede His purpose.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, IV. ix. II. 287. A power of superseding the operations and suspending the authority of the Presidents and Councils.
1844. H. H. Wilson, Brit. India, I. vii. I. 417. When in this capacity he superseded all other rights.
1863. D. Wilson, Preh. Ann., III. vi. (ed. 2), II. 160. The Norman invader superseded Anglo-Saxon institutions.
† b. spec. To dissolve by writ of supersedeas.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3860/4. The said Commission is superceded under the Great Seal of England.
7. pass. To be set aside as useless or obsolete; to be replaced by something which is regarded as superior.
1642. J. M[arsh], Argt. conc. Militia, 16. Our judgement is bound up in, and superseded by theirs [sc. the parliament’s].
1678. Butler, Hud., III. i. 964. To that alone the Bridegroom’s wedded, The Bride a Flam that’s superseded.
1697. C. Leslie, Snake in Grass (ed. 2), 205. This whole Chapter of Burrough’s Trumpet … was stifled and superseded by these same Prophets, in the New Edition of Burrough’s Works, 1672.
1788. Priestley, Lect. Hist., IV. xviii. 155. In this method, the process of the mind, of reducing intervals of time to lines is superseded, and done in a more accurate manner.
1807. G. Chalmers, Caledonia, I. II. i. 233. This Celtic race was superceded by invading Goths.
1838. Arnold, Hist. Rome, I. Pref. p. vi. When this work must be superseded by a more perfect history.
1878. C. Stanford, Symb. Christ, i. 24. From the necessity of its present perfection it can never be superseded by an arrangement more complete.
1884. F. Temple, Relat. Relig. & Sci., i. 8. The examination of this fact led to the old rule being superseded.
8. To take the place of (something set aside or abandoned); to succeed to the place occupied by; to serve, be adopted or accepted instead of.
1660. Pepys, Diary, 3 July. The Officers and Commissioners of the Navy we met … and agreed upon orders for the Council to supersede the old ones.
1766. Blackstone, Comm., II. xxiii. 376. The statute of Elizabeth … supersedes and repeals all former statutes.
1835. Miss Mitford, in L’Estrange, Life (1870), III. iii. 34. [The Athenæum] is the fashionable paper now, having superseded the ‘Literary Gazette.’
1857. Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, ii. (1868), 96. The work of living men not superseding, but building itself upon the work of the past.
1861. Ld. Brougham, Brit. Const., x. 138. The services of the crown vassals superseded salary in the civil as well as pay in the military department.
1865. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. xxi. 530. Oxen were superseding horses in farm-work.
1874. Green, Short Hist., vii. § 5. 388. Carpets superseded the filthy flooring of rushes.
1913. Act 3 & 4 Geo. V., c. 20 § 54. In no case shall oaths of verity or credulity supersede production of legal evidence.
9. To supply the place of (a person deprived of or removed from an office or position) by another; also to set aside or ignore in promotion, promote another over the head of; pass. to be removed from office to make way for another.
1710. Swift, Lett. to Dr. Sterne, 26 Sept. He is not yet removed, because they say it will be requisite to supersede him by a successor, which the queen has not fixed on.
1760. Caut. & Adv. Off. Army, 149. His Majesty … superseded the Ensign, and gave his Commission to another.
1851. Hussey, Papal Power, ii. 62. Hilary … deposed one [bishop], and superseded another who was sick … by ordaining one in his place.
1868. E. Edwards, Ralegh, I. xviii. 362. Whilst he was yet on his journey … he had been already superseded in his office.
1870. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Sept., 11/2. The lady superintendent has been ‘superseded’ on account of her inability to account for certain sums of money.
b. To supply the place of (a thing).
1861. Paley, Æschylus (ed. 2), Pers., 841, note. The genuine ῥῆσις has certainly been superseded.
1873. Symonds, Grk. Poets, xi. 344. To expurgate the Greek Anthology of Cephalas from impurities and to supersede it by what he considered a more edifying text.
10. Of a person: To take the place of (some one removed from an office or † promoted); to succeed and supplant (a person) in a position of any kind.
1777. Robertson, Hist. Amer., II. (1783), I. 191. Francis de Bovadilla … was appointed … to supersede him, and assume the government of the island.
1799. Nelson, 25 March, in Nicolas, Disp. (1845), III. 306. Captain Maling takes his passage to supersede Captain Nisbet in the Bonne Citoyenne.
1828. Sir W. Napier, Penins. War, II. iii. (1878), I. 71. Sir Charles Cotton, after superseding Sir Sidney Smith, had blockaded the mouth of the Tagus.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, lviii. This was the very Mrs. Wickam who had superseded Mrs. Richards as the nurse of little Paul.
1878. Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., I. i. 150. His brilliant and impetuous colleague was in both quarters rapidly superseding him.
Hence Superseded ppl. a.
a. 1831. A. Knox, Rem. (1844), I. 86. Superstition—such as the Jews retained for their superseded law.
1883. F. Mitchell, in Century Mag., Sept., 645/2. The superseded constable’s prosecution for ‘railing’ at the marshal who supplanted him!
1906. Petrie, Relig. Anc. Egypt, vii. 55–6. He [Seb] was the ‘prince of the gods,’ the power that went before all the later gods, the superseded Saturn of Egyptian theology.
