Meanings
- not comparableLying or floating above a denser fluid, or above a solid sediment or precipitate (which has been separated by crystallisation, centrifugation etc.).
There may be a place at some certain latitude between the poles and the line on each side the equator, where the inflammable supernatant atmosphere may end, owing to the greater centrifugal force of the heavier aerial atmosphere.
1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 11
plural supernatants
- Material that floats on the surface of a liquid.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe liquid that lies above a sediment or precipitate.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof a liquid; floating on the surface above a sediment or precipitate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Italic*super
- Latinsuper
- Latinsuper-
- Englishsuper-
- Englishnatant
- Englishsupernatant
Translations
French surnageant
- surnageantfloating on the surface of a liquid
Italian galleggiante
- galleggiantefloating on the surface of a liquid
Portuguese flutuando, sobrenadante
- flutuandofloating on the surface of a liquid
- sobrenadantefloating on the surface of a liquid
Spanish flotante, sobrenadante
- flotantefloating on the surface of a liquid
- sobrenadantefloating on the surface of a liquid
Cite this entry
supernatant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supernatant
“supernatant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supernatant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “supernatant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supernatant.
Source: supernatant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.