superelevation

S1U1P3E1R1E1L1E1V4A1T1I1O1N1

noun

The angle that a gun must be elevated above the line of its target to allow for the effect of gravity on the projectile.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

nounsuperelevation (plural superelevations)

plural superelevations

  1. The angle that a gun must be elevated above the line of its target to allow for the effect of gravity on the projectile.
  2. The cant of a railway track; the difference in elevation (height) between its two edges, as on a curve.
    1 more example

    In the third place, the superelevation and alignment of the track, theoretically calculated for speeds of 70 to 75 m.p.h., was adequate for the 80 to 85 m.p.h. or so normally attained as maxima over the G.N. main line; but nothing whatever had been done to prepare it for the enormous increment over these figures that this run was to produce.

    1941 June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 263

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Italic*super
  4. Latinsuper
  5. Latinsuper-
  6. Englishsuper-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  9. Proto-Italic*eks
  10. Latinex
  11. Latinex-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₁lengʷʰ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₁léngʰus
  14. Proto-Italic*breɣʷisinflu.
  15. Proto-Italic*leɣʷis
  16. Latinlevis
  17. Latinlevō
  18. Latinēlevō
  19. Latinēlevātiō
  20. Old Frenchelevation
  21. Englishelevation
  22. Englishsuperelevation

From super- + elevation.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

superelevation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superelevation

MLA

“superelevation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superelevation. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “superelevation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superelevation.

Source: superelevation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.