- over; above; beyond: surcharge, surrealism
Compare super-
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
sur-,1 prefix.
- sur- comes from French, where it has the meaning "over, above, in addition'':surcharge;surname;surrender.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
sur- prefix
sur- prefix
- a variant of sub-: surrogate
sur (sûr),USA pronunciation prep. [Law.]
Sur (sŏŏr),USA pronunciation n.
sur-1 ,
sur-2 ,
- Lawupon;
on the basis of:sur mortgage.
- Latin super super-
- French
Sur (sŏŏr),USA pronunciation n.
- Place Namesa town in S Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea: site of ancient port of Tyre.
sur-1 ,
- a prefix meaning "over, above,'' "in addition,'' occurring mainly in loanwords from French and partial calques of French words:surcharge; surrender;survive.Cf. super-.
- Latin super- super-
- Old French
- Middle English
sur-2 ,
- var. of sub- before r: surrogate.
'sur-' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Asnières-sur-Seine
- Baja California Sur
- Boulogne
- Boulogne-Billancourt
- Carnot
- Chalon-sur-Saône
- Champigny-sur-Marne
- Chilpancingo
- Fontenelle
- Lower California
- Marne
- Neuilly-sur-Seine
- Sierra Madre
- sirloin
- sorrel
- sour
- Sur
- surcingle
- surface
- surfeit
- surmount
- surname
- surpass
- surprise
- surrealism
- surrender
- surtout
- surveillance
- survey
- Tyre
- Vendée
- aerial survey
- Attila
- bellybutton surgery
- Boulogne Billancourt
- capital surplus
- caustic surface
- Châlons
- chirurgeon
- control surface
- control survey
- cosmetic surgery
- Costanoan
- crown antler
- developable surface
- earned surplus
- erosion surface
- father substitute
- flight surgeon
- geodetic survey