4 ms·

The real question is ultra before or after hyper?

• nine_k 3y ago
  Ultra and hyper mean basically the same (over, beyond), but since Greek culture flourished before Roman culture, I'd say that hyper should come before ultra. (And do you think that coming up with all this kilo / mega / giga / tera / peta / exa set of prefixes, and deciding their order, was easy?)
  • tremon 3y ago
    Ultra and hyper mean basically the same So does super, which is the direct Latin cognate of hyper. So ultra > super > hyper? I would suggest the opposite, as in modern usage, the Greek words "feel" larger than the Latin ones, perhaps because they look less familiar.
    • stonemetal12 3y ago
      Between superman and supersonic planes, super feels common and slightly old fashioned. To me "super" feels the least superior of the three.
    • twic 3y ago
      We've already established that hypersonic > supersonic. I think a hypermarket is bigger than a supermarket. In protein structure, a hyperfamily is bigger than a superfamily. I've never heard of an ultrasonic aeroplane, an ultramarket, or an ultrafamily. So those must be bigger yet?
      • nine_k 3y ago
        They seem to refer to different domains. Supersonic is about the speed of sound, and ultrasonic is about the frequency. Superior is about being higher / better, and ulterior is about being a next step :)