superstition

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A belief that is not based on reason, often involving luck, magic, or fear of the unknown.

   Walking under a ladder is unlucky, according to an old superstition.

Simplified etymology

Superstition comes from Latin superstitio, formed from super-, “over,” and stare, “to stand,” and apparently associated with excessive fear and religiosity. In English it first meant “excess,” then “irrational or credulous belief”; its use for irrational belief in supernatural influences dates from the early 17th century.

From Middle French superstition, from Latin superstitio (“superstition”), from superstāre (“to stand above, to stand upon, to survive”) + -tiō (“-tion: forming nouns”), from super- (“above, over, upon”) + stāre (“to stand”).

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External links

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