Standard Lemma guide

superluminal

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Faster than light; having a speed greater than light.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: astronomy, fantasy, fiction, literature, media, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super-lbor. English super- Latin lumina English -al English luminal English superluminal From super- + luminal.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: superluminar — having a speed greater than light
  • German: überlichtschnell — having a speed greater than light
  • Greek: υπερφωτοταχικός (yperfototachikós) — having a speed greater than light
  • Icelandic: ljósfrár — having a speed greater than light
  • Icelandic: yfir ljóshraða — having a speed greater than light
  • Polish: nadświetlny — having a speed greater than light
  • Russian: сверхсветовой (sverxsvetovoj) — having a speed greater than light
  • Serbo-Croatian: nadsvjetlosni — having a speed greater than light
  • Spanish: superlumínico — having a speed greater than light