sup

See also: SUP, súp, 'sup, sup., Sup., šup, and суп

Translingual

Symbol

sup

1. (mathematics) supremum

Synonyms

• (in a lattice) ∨

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʌp/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌp
• Homophone: 'sup
• IPA^(key): (abbreviations of supremum and of words beginning with super-) /sup/

Etymology 1

The verb is from Middle English soupen, from Old English sūpan (“to sip, drink, taste”), from Proto-Germanic *sūpaną (compare Dutch zuipen (“to drink, tipple, booze”), German saufen (“to drink, booze”), Swedish supa (“to drink, swallow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *sub-, compare Sanskrit सूप (sū́pa, “soup, broth”), from *sewe (“to take liquid”). More at suck.

The noun is from the verb. There is no evidence of continuity with Old English supa. Compare Middle English soupe, from Old English sūpe, which has the same meaning as Middle English sope (“a mouthful or small amount of drink”), from Old English sopa, whence sop.

Verb

sup (third-person singular simple present sups, present participle supping, simple past and past participle supped)

1. To sip; to take a small amount of food or drink into the mouth, especially with a spoon.
   • 1646, Richard Crashaw, Steps to the Temple:

     There I'll sup / Balm and nectar in my cup.

   • 1893, Norman Gale, “A Walk”, in Orchard Songs, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews & John Lane; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 43:

     We stood upon the forehead of the hills, / And lifted up our hearts in prayer; / And as we halted, reverent, / Meseemed that Nature o’er us bent, / That she did bid us sup / From bread she gave and from her cup.

Alternative forms

• soup

Noun

sup (countable and uncountable, plural sups)

1. A sip; a small amount of food or drink.
   • 1898, Wilfred Woollam, “Fragments from Two Hearts”, in Child Illa and Other Poems, Sheffield: J. Arthur Bain; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., page 163:

     “Then, who,” the sick man meekly said, / “Shall heal the sick and hide the dead?— / “Snatch the despairer’s poisoned cup; / Clothe shame, and give the outcast sup?⁠— / “Lighten, if only by a hair, / The load of human pain and care?”

   • a. 1936, J[oseph] S[mith] Fletcher, “Assault of Hannah’s Castle”, in The Mill House Murder: Being the Last of the Adventures of Ronald Camberwell, Alfred A[braham] Knopf, Inc., published 1937, page 234:

     We’re sisters in a sort and I’ll take Louie home with me and give her sup and shelter.

   • 1936, George Orwell, chapter 8, in Keep the Aspidistra Flying:

     A long, long sup of beer flowed gratefully down his gullet.

   • 2010, Graley Herren, “Beckett on Television”, in S[tanley] E. Gontarski, editor, A Companion to Samuel Beckett, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, part IV (Acts of Performance), page 396:

     The hands touch B upon the head, give him sup from a cup and wipe his brow with a cloth, and finally embrace him as he slumps back down upon his desk.

Alternative forms

• soup

Etymology 2

From Middle English soupen, suppen, Anglo-Norman super, from supe, soupe. More at soup.

Verb

sup (third-person singular simple present sups, present participle supping, simple past and past participle supped)

1. To eat supper.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     ...I propose we should have up the cold pie, and let him sup.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     I pray you, be seated and sup how you please. You will, I trust, excuse me that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup.

Alternative forms

• soup (rare)

Translations

eat supper, dine

• Bulgarian: вечерям (večerjam)
• Finnish: illastaa (fi), illallistaa (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient: δειπνέω (deipnéō)

• Latin: cenō (la)

Etymology 3

Procopic form of what's up (“how are you doing?”)

Interjection

sup?

1. (slang) what's up (either as a greeting or actual question)

   Synonyms: t'sup, wassup, w'sup, wudup

   — Sup?
   — Not much.

Alternative forms

• ssup, 'sup, s'up, zup

Etymology 4

From s- +‎ up.

Adjective

sup (not comparable)

1. (physics) Being or relating to the squark that is the superpartner of an up quark.

   Antonym: sdown

Derived terms

• sup squark

Etymology 5

First syllable of superintendent.

Noun

sup (plural sups)

1. (informal) Superintendent.
   • 1932, Edward Livermore Burlingame, Robert Bridges, Alfred Dashiell, Scribner's Magazine - Volume 91, page 64:

     They had put in the stretch-out and they were laying people off and there was talk of a union. "Let's have a union." "Mr. Shaw won't stand for it. The sup won't stand for it."

   • 2011, M. Thomas, Not Today, →ISBN, page 212:

     Cpl. Perez, the radio sup said, "Everything checks out OK, Sarge. We're up and working."

   • 2012, Caroline Court, Rescuing Park Ranger Billie, →ISBN, page 55:

     But here comes the deputy vehicle, cruising right up to the shelter on the bike path. The sup is a retired county sheriff's deputy.

Alternative forms

• supe

Etymology 6

First syllable of superior.

Noun

sup (plural sups)

1. (mathematics) Supremum, upper limit.
   • 2001, Mr. Paul Cashin, Mr. C. John McDermott, The Long-Run Behavior of Commodity Prices, →ISBN:

     Values for the sup W statistic in excess of the 5 percent critical value (2.75 for booms and 2.77 for slumps) indicate rejection of the null hypothesis of no change in the dureation of booms and slumps in real commodity prices.

   • 2003 -, Serge Lang -, Complex Analysis, →ISBN, page 271:

     For a wide class of connected open sets U, not necessarily simply connected, one proves the existence of a harmonic function on U having given boundary value (satisfying suitable integrability conditions) by taking the sup of the subharmonic functions having this boundary value.

Derived terms

• lim sup

Etymology 7

Clipping of supplement.

Noun

sup (plural sups)

1. (bodybuilding, colloquial) Supplement.

Descendants

• → German: Sup

Etymology 8

First syllable of supervision.

Noun

sup (plural sups)

1. (Cambridge University slang) A supervision.

Alternative forms

• supe

See also

• lup sup (etymologically unrelated to any of the above terms)

Anagrams

• PSU, PUS, PUs, UPS, UPs, USP, psu, pus, ups

Albanian

Alternative forms

• cup — Gheg

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *tsupa, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱupos (compare English hip, Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos, “vertebra, hollow before the hip (in cattle)”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sup/

Noun

sup m (plural supe, definite supi, definite plural supet)

1. (anatomy) shoulder

   Synonyms: mushk, shpatull

Declension

Declension of sup

	indefinite		definite
	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	sup	supe	supi	supet
accusative			supin
dative	supi	supeve	supit	supevet
ablative		supesh

Czech

Sup

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech sup, from Proto-Slavic *sǫpъ (“vulture”). Cognate with Polish sęp, Lower Sorbian sup, Serbo-Croatian sȕp, and Russian сип (sip).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsup]
• Rhymes: -up

Noun

sup m anim

1. vulture

Declension

Declension of sup (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	sup	supi, supové
genitive	supa	supů
dative	supovi, supu	supům
accusative	supa	supy
vocative	supe	supi, supové
locative	supovi, supu	supech
instrumental	supem	supy

Derived terms

• orlosup

 

Further reading

• sup in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• sup in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch soep (“soup”), from French soupe, from Latin suppa, from Proto-Germanic *supô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsʊp̚]
• Hyphenation: sup

Noun

sup (first-person possessive supku, second-person possessive supmu, third-person possessive supnya)

1. soup, any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute flavor and texture.

   Synonyms: kaldu, kuah

   Satu di antaranya adalah soto dan sup. ― One of them is soto and soup.

Derived terms

• disup
• mengesup

 

Further reading

• “sup” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Noun

sup m

1. stand up paddleboard

Anagrams

• pus

Lower Sorbian

sup

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sǫpъ (“vulture”). Cognate with Polish sęp, Czech sup, Serbo-Croatian sȕp, and Russian сип (sip).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sup/

Noun

sup m animal

1. vulture (bird)

Declension

Declension of sup

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	sup	supa	supy
Genitive	supa	supowu	supow
Dative	supoju	supoma	supam
Accusative	supa	supowu	supy, supow
Instrumental	supom	supoma	supami
Locative	supje	supoma	supach

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “sup”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “sup”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Nabi

Noun

sup

1. water

References

• transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English soup.

Noun

sup

1. soup

Serbo-Croatian

Sȕp

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sǫpъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sûp/

Noun

sȕp m (Cyrillic spelling су̏п)

1. vulture

   Synonyms: lèšinār, str̀vinār

Declension

Declension of sup

	singular	plural
nominative	sȕp	sùpoví
genitive	supa	supova
dative	supu	supovima
accusative	supa	supove
vocative	supe	supovi
locative	supu	supovima
instrumental	supom	supovima

References

• “sup” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Slovak

Sup

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sǫpъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsup/

Noun

sup m inan (genitive singular supa, nominative plural supy, genitive plural supov, declension pattern of dub)

1. vulture

Usage notes

• The usage of the 2nd declension pattern is limited to fairy tales and children stories.

Declension

Declension of sup

	singular	plural
nominative	sup	supi
genitive	supa	supov
dative	supovi	supom
accusative	supa	supov
locative	supovi	supoch
instrumental	supom	supmi

Derived terms

• supí

Further reading

• “sup”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʉːp

Noun

sup c

1. (a (complete) drinking of) a drink of hard liquor, a drink

   Synonyms: rackabajsare, pilleknarkare, styrketår

   Jag ska ta mig en sup

   I'm gonna have a drink

   Du verkar stressad, Nisse. Ta dig en sup så att du blir som folk.

   You seem stressed out, Nisse. Have a drink to straighten yourself out.

   2. (a (complete) drinking of) a small amount of hard liquor, typically aquavit or another clear liquor, served in a small glass

      Synonyms: snaps, nubbe, hutt

2. (archaic) a gulp or small quantity of liquid

Usage notes

• Has a somewhat colloquially folksy tone when of having a drink in general.
• Small enough to be drunk in one gulp in (sense 1.1), and typically intended to be. Basically a shot, without the modern connotations. Often had with food.

Declension

Declension of sup
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sup	supen	supar	suparna
Genitive	sups	supens	supars	suparnas

Derived terms

• kallsup

Related terms

• supa

Verb

sup

1. imperative of supa

References

• sup in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sup in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sup in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Verb

sup

1. imperative of supa

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English soup.

Noun

sup

1. soup

Volapük

Noun

sup (nominative plural sups)

1. soup

Declension

declension of sup

	singular	plural
nominative	sup	sups
genitive	supa	supas
dative	supe	supes
accusative	supi	supis
vocative 1	o sup!	o sups!
predicative 2	supu	supus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only