The story
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Italic*super
- Latinsuper
- Latinsuper-
- Proto-Indo-European*sed-
- Proto-Indo-European*sedéh₁yeti
- Proto-Italic*sedēō
- Latinsedeō
- Latinsupersedēre
- Middle Frenchsuperseder
- English todaysupersede
From Middle French superseder (“postpone, defer”), from Latin supersedēre, from super (“over”) + sedēre (“to sit”). The meaning “to replace” is from 1642, probably by association with unrelated precede – note that c instead of s (from cēdere (“to yield”), not sedēre (“to sit”)). As a result, supercede is a common misspelling – see therein for further discussion. Doublet of surcease.
Words from the same roots
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.