supreme, a.1 and n.1
(s(j)uːˈpriːm)
Also 6 suppreme, 6–7 supreame, 7–8 supream.
[ad. L. suprēmus, superl. of superus that is above, f. super above. Cf. F. suprême, It., Sp., Pg. supremo.
In poetry, esp. when attrib., freq. stressed ˈsupreme.]
A. adj.
1. Highest (in literal sense), loftiest, topmost. Now only poet.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 694 What thynge occasionyd the showris of rayne, Of fyre elementar in his supreme spere. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 115 The supream angle not joyned..predicts loss of the eyes. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 299 The venters are the inferiour, or abdomen; the middle, or thorax; or the supreame, which is the head. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. (1723) 89 The supreme or outmost Stratum of the Globe. 1808 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life & Lett. (1876) I. i. 32 Day set on Cambria's hills supreme. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 75 Blanc, supreme above his earth-brood. |
2. a. Highest in authority or rank; holding the highest place in authority, government, or power.
Chiefly in technical collocations, and first used in the expressions supreme head and supreme governor in the enactments of Henry VIII's and Elizabeth's reigns (respectively) dealing with the position of the sovereign as the paramount authority (as against the bishop of Rome). (Cf. supremacy 1 a.)
Supreme Court of Judicature: (a) in India (see quot. 1773); (b) in Great Britain and Ireland (see judicature 1). Supreme Soviet: the national legislature of the U.S.S.R.; also, the national legislature of any of its constituent republics.
| 1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 12 Preamble, Where by dyvers sundrie olde autentike histories and cronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this Realme of Englond is an Impire..governed by oon Supreme heede and King. 1534 Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 1, That the Kyng our Soveraign Lorde..shalbe..reputed the onely supreme heed in erthe of the Churche of England callyd Anglicana Ecclesia. 1558–9 Act 1 Eliz. c. 1. §19 (Form of Oath), I..doo..declare in my Conscience, that the Quenes Highnes is thonelye supreme Governour of this Realme..aswell in all Spirituall or Ecclesiasticall Thinges or Causes as Temporall. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 66 b, Geuyng hym his faythe as to his supreme Magistrate. 1597 Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Scaccarium, Some callis it [sc. the Exchequer] the soveraigne and supreame court. 1611 Bible 1 Pet ii. 13 Submit your selues to euery ordinance of man..whether it be to the King, as supreme, Or vnto gouernours. 1656 J. Hammond Leah & Rachel Postscr. (1844) 30, I..will abide such censure..as the supreame power of England shall find me to have merited. 1672–5 T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 119 Such Miscreants..who should thirst so vehemently for the blood of its Supream Governor. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. ii. 146 Of magistrates also some are supreme, in whom the sovereign power of the state resides; others are subordinate, deriving all their authority from the supreme magistrate. 1770 Junius Lett. Ded., When we say that the legislature is supreme, we mean, that it is the highest power known to the constitution. 1773 Act 13 Geo. III, c. 63 §13 That it shall..be lawful for his Majesty,..to..establish a Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William [in Bengal]. 1790 A. J. Dallas (title), Reports of Cases adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania, namely, the Common Pleas, Supreme Court, and the High Court of Errors and Appeals. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India iii. ix. III. 535 The Supreme Council..was to consist of six members, of whom four were to be officers of the four Presidencies. 1861 Brougham Brit. Const. xvii. 255 The judicial power exercised by the Lords as a supreme Court of Judicature in all matters of law. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66. §4 The said Supreme Court shall consist of two permanent Divisions, one of which, under the name of ‘Her Majesty's High Court of Justice’, shall have and exercise original jurisdiction..and the other of which, under the name of ‘Her Majesty's Court of Appeal’, shall have and exercise appellate jurisdiction. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 789/2 In the United States the supreme court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. 1936 Times 15 June 11/4 The legislative assemblies will consist of one All-Union Parliament called the ‘Supreme Council (or Supreme Soviet) of the U.S.S.R.’. 1947 Ann. Reg. 1946 218 M. Kalinin, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, resigned for reasons of health. 1957 Whitaker's Almanack 1958 950/1 The Union Republics and Autonomous Republics have Supreme Soviets..of their own..although their jurisdiction is severely circumscribed in favour of the central Government. 1974 tr. Sniečkus's Soviet Lithuania 67 The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR has approved the Five-Year Plan for the economic development of the Republic for 1971–5. 1978 Ann. Reg. 1977 490 Article 90 [of the Constitution of the USSR 1977]. The term of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviets of Union Republics, and the Supreme Soviets of Autonomous Republics shall be five years. |
| † Const. to. 1642 Jer. Taylor Episc. §36 The king is supreme to the bishop in impery. |
b. Said of the authority, command, etc.
| 1539 Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 61 Faustinus..alleged.. that the byshop of Rome ought to haue the orderynge of all Great Matters..by his supreme auctoritie. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 118 It is your fault, that you resigne The Supreme Seat, the Throne Maiesticall. 1659 Hammond Dispatcher Disp. iv. §4 What the rights are, which are peculiar to the Supreme Pastourship. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 659 Uriel,..thou..here art likeliest by supream decree Like honour to obtain. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 170 He, long honour'd in supreme command. 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 13 Jurisdiction is either supreme, inferior, or mixed. 1840 Thirlwall Greece lvi. VII. 185 When they had joined their forces, Craterus resigned the supreme command to his colleague. 1863 H. Cox Inst. i. i. 2 The supreme power of making and abrogating laws. |
c. transf. and fig. (chiefly predicative).
| 1656 Bramhall Replic. iv. 159 In a great Family there are several offices, as a Divine, a Physitian, a Schoolmaster, and every one of these is supreme in his own way. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 91 The lower still I fall, onely Supream In miserie. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 238 Man is supreme Lord and Master Of his own Ruin and Disaster. 1726 Butler Serm. Rolls Chap. ii. 26 Which Principle..being in Nature supream,..ought to preside over and govern all the rest. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxi, The temple of fashion where Madame Mantalini reigned paramount and supreme. 1878 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 158 During the session parliament was supreme. 1884 F. Temple Relat. Relig. & Sci. ii. (1885) 59 To believe that the rule of duty is supreme over all the universe, is the first stage of Faith. 1892 Westcott Gospel of Life 89 Each science is supreme within its own domain. |
| ellipt. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 36 The spreading Cedar, that an Age had stood, Supreme of Trees, and Mistress of the Wood. 1774 Bryant Mythol. II. 125 He seems to have been the supreme of those..spirits described above. |
3. a. Of the highest quality, degree, or amount. the supreme sacrifice: the laying down of one's life for one's country in battle; also transf.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 780 Let their exhald vnholdsome breaths make sicke The life of puritie, the supreme faire, Ere he arriue his wearie noone-tide pricke. 1609 Daniel Civ. Wars iv. xli, Hee could not meane t' haue peace with those, Who did in that supreame degree offend. a 1631 Donne Paradoxes (1652) 17 If these kil themselves, they do it in their best and supream perfection. 1649 E. Reynolds Hosea vi. 82 The supreame end and happinesse of the soule. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 110 ¶1 That to please the Lord and Father of the universe, is the supreme interest of created..beings. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. vi. 96, I have a supreme disgust for the man who at the hustings has no opinion beyond..the clamour round him. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 412 In no other mind have the demonstrative faculty and the inductive faculty coexisted in such supreme excellence. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 20 They have sound bodies, and supreme endurance in war and in labour. 1872 Liddon Elem. Relig. i. 5 The needs of the human mind, and among them..its supreme need of a religion. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. vii. 212 The death of Christ, which is the supreme revelation of the Divine love. 1916 W. M. Clow Evangel of Strait Gate xv. 173 These young men..have gone down not only to the horror of the battlefield but to the gates of death as they made the supreme sacrifice. 1935 J. E. C. Welldon Forty Years On i. 46 Citizenship demands at times the supreme sacrifice—as it was called during the Great War of 1914–18. 1955 J. Burnaby Christian Words & Christian Meanings vi. 104 The ‘supreme sacrifice’, in the cliché of the wartime newspaper, does consist in the carrying of disregard of self to the limit. 1965 J. A. Michener Source (1966) 491 Because He [sc. Christ] offered Himself as the supreme sacrifice two things happened. We were saved and He ascended to Godhood. 1981 Hinchliff & Young Human Potential v. 98 When one speaks of the dead of two world wars as having made the supreme sacrifice, one means that the sacrifice was made for..one's country. |
b. Of persons: Highest or greatest in character or achievement.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 1 Then Pallas breath'd in Tydeus sonne: to render whom supreame To all the Greekes,..she cast a hoter beame, On his high mind. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. i. ii, The Supreme Quack. 1874 Creighton Hist. Ess. i. (1902) 1 In..the reflective and analytic class, Lionardo and Dante stand supreme. 1878 Gladstone Prim. Homer 138 Homer exhibits Odusseus as a supreme master of the bow. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xvii, You are a supreme artist. |
| ellipt. 1814 Wordsw. Laodamia ix, Supreme of Heroes—bravest, noblest, best! |
c. Of a point or period of time: Of highest or critical importance.
| 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 170 The Carthaginian government managed, even in this supreme hour, to thwart Hamilcar. 1883 Manch. Examiner 26 Nov. 5/1 The generals have been at loggerheads at the supreme moment of the battle. |
d. spec. applied to highly excellent varieties of fruits or vegetables.
| 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard'ner I. xi. 48 Summer Pears. The Little Muscat, The Supreme, The Cuisse-Madame. [1860 Hogg Fruit Man. 221 Pears... Windsor (Bell Tongue..Summer Bell; Suprême).] 1882 Garden 21 Jan. 38/1 Supreme [a variety of pea]..gives large successional pickings. |
4. spec. applied to God (or his attributes), as the paramount ruler of the world, or the most exalted being or intelligence; also to the most exalted of heathen deities.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 13 Take heed you dally not before your King, Lest he that is the supreme King of Kings Confound your hidden falshood. 1607 ― Cor. v. iii. 71 With the consent of supreame Ioue. 1634 Milton Comus 217 He, the Supreme good, t' whom all things ill Are but as slavish officers of vengeance. 1667 ― P.L. x. 70 Mine both in Heav'n and Earth to do thy will Supream. 1672–5 T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 93 That Supream Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. 1699 Burnet 39 Art. i. 38 The Supream and Increated Being. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. 274 Whether there be really that Supreme-One we suppose. 1751 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 235 Original truth having the most intimate connexion with the Supreme Intelligence. 1820 Shelley Œd. Tyr. i. i. 1 Thou supreme Goddess! 1836 Thirlwall Greece xiii. II. 165 When the victim was to be offered to the supreme God, it was taken up to the top of the highest hill. 1854 Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 29 The proposition..that human science is..adverse to the belief in a Supreme Intelligence. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 824/1 The Festival of the Supreme Being, decreed by the National Convention, designed by David and conducted by Robespierre. |
5. Last, final, as belonging to the moment of death. Now only a gallicism: cf. F. le moment suprême.
| 1606 Holland Sueton. 66 The supreme iudgments & testimonies of his friends..delivered at their deaths. 1648 [see 6 b]. 1894 Sir E. Sullivan Woman 57 When Queen Elizabeth was dying she had her band summoned to her ante-chamber..when she felt the supreme moment approaching she told the musicians to strike up her favourite air. |
6. In comparative and superlative. a. Comparative supremer. rare.
| 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly (1709) 125 After their reign here they must appear before a supreamer judge. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. xxiv. 109 Having given way to supremer fervours. |
b. Superlative supremest, most supreme.
| 1631 Massinger Emperor East iv. i, Fate..appointed you To the supremest honour. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Upon a Maide 6 Virgins, come, and in a ring Her supreamest requiem sing. a 1674 Traherne Chr. Ethics (1675) 11 There are many degrees of blessedness beneath the most supream. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 325 Throned in omnipotence, supremest Jove Tempers the fates of human race. 1772–84 Cook's Voy. (1790) V. 1637 This man felt the most supreme pleasure. 1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xxxiv, In her supremest hour of misery. |
B. n.
† 1. A person having supreme authority, rank, or power; a supreme authority, ruler, or magistrate; sometimes = superior. Obs.
| 1553 Crome in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. x. 24 That they that be prohybyte of the byshops,..ought to cease from preachyng..till they haue purgyd them byfore the supreme of soche suspicion. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 98 He wald nocht enter his sone into his landis the said Earle being supreme thairof. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 996 She clepes him..Imperious supreme of all mortall things. 1631 Chapman Cæsar & Pompey ii. i. Plays 1873 III. 148 This day had prou'd him the supreame of Cæsar. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 349 There ought to be a Supreme above the Law. 1660 Waterhouse Arms & Arm. 177, I return to London which I find of great consequence to her Supremes. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 99 Their King, their Leader, and Supream on Earth. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin i. vi. 27 Was it not a fine cast of his office, that one of them [sc. popes] practised upon one of these Supremes [sc. emperors]? 1725 Pope Odyss. xiii. 144 Old Ocean's dread Supreme. 1807 E. S. Barrett Rising Sun III. 100 By the act of Reformation, the lord was declared to be the supreme of the church. |
2. The highest degree or amount of something.
| 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 20 The qualities that intitle a man to this supreme of denominations. 1817 Keats Sleep & Poetry 236 A drainless shower Of light is poesy; 'tis the supreme of power. 1858 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. Part. lxv. I. 249 The Native Indian term for the supreme of folly, is ‘monkey business’. |
3. As a title of God (or an exalted deity). the Supreme: the Supreme Being, God.
| [1667 Milton P.L. vi. 723 O Father, O Supream of heav'nly Thrones. Ibid. viii. 414 To attaine The highth and depth of thy Eternal wayes All human thoughts come short, Supream of things.] 1702 Rowe Tamerl. i. i, O thou Supream! 1711 Addison Spect. No. 257 ¶7 It is the greatest Folly to seek the..Approbation of any Being, besides the Supreme. a 1766 F. Sheridan Nourjahad (1767) 197 May the Supreme grant thy petition. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. i, Heaven's dread Supreme. 1884 Contemp. Rev. Feb. 256 That aboriginal law of self-sacrifice which links the Supreme to His creatures. |
† 4. The highest or topmost part. Obs. rare—1.
| 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. Ded. A 2 b, One, who..took not his information at the shore or Suburbs, but..visited the intestines and supreme, whence he might the better look below, and round about him. |
5. supreme of chicken = suprême de volaille s.v. suprême n.2 (a.2) 2 a.
| 1939 Vogue's Cookery Bk. 81 Supreme of Chicken. 1 chicken 4 eggs 11/3 cups cream. 1959 A. Christie Cat among Pigeons xiv. 154 Ann Shapland..was sitting at a table..eating Supreme of chicken. 1983 Out of Town Dec. 72/2 The pastry case on the Supreme of Chicken..was a little too generous. |