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Glite Dictionary
to supervene upon

to supervene upon

9.9
To take the place of something or someone
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˌsuːpərˈviːn əˈpɒn/
  • Formal
translation icon : sustituir
  • The recent developments in technology supervene upon earlier innovations, enabling faster communication.

So the duties of justice are going to trump the duties of courage, or they're at least they're going to supervene upon them and guide them.

Examples

  • So the duties of justice are going to trump the duties of courage, or they're at least they're going to supervene upon them and guide them.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • The process that Cohen accurately identifies supervenes upon textual metaskepticism, producing more complex characterizations and a revision.

    Academic text (1999)

  • In the new management structure, the changes will supervene upon previous policies to enhance efficiency.

  • As the old laws were found inadequate, the new regulations will supervene upon them and establish clearer guidelines.

Synonyms

to replace
vsto supervene upon
∞ 1.8

Put another thing or person in place of one that is broken

is about formally succeeding into a role rather than general swapping
to supplant
vsto supervene upon
23 7.5

To take the place of a person or thing because the new one is better

describes formal succession without implying force or competition
to sub
vsto supervene upon
  • Informal
19 5.8

To take someone's place for a short time

implies permanent or official succession instead of brief covering
to supersede
vsto supervene upon
15 7.2

To take the place of something older that people used before

is a formal act of succeeding into a position or role
to fill someone's shoes
vsto supervene upon
4 5.3

To take over someone's job when it is hard to do it as well

refers to formal succession without stressing how hard the role is to fill
to surrogate
vsto supervene upon
1 6.8

To act for someone when they cannot be there

focuses on formal succession into a position rather than brief standing in

Surface Forms

supervene upon infinitive
supervened upon past
supervened upon past participle
supervening upon present participle
supervenes upon third person singular

Morphology

supervene + upon

The verb 'supervene' is formal and derived, and 'upon' simply marks the relationship; while 'upon' suggests an occurrence or relation, the precise sense of 'taking the place of' or 'succeeding' is not fully predictable from the parts for a B1 learner. Cross-linguistic cognates (e.g. French survenir, Spanish sobrevenir) may give clues to some learners, but the combination is only partially transparent rather than fully compositional.

Etymology

Supervene upon creates the image of something coming on top of something else: the parts super and vene mean 'over' and 'come'. Imagine a new rule coming over an old rule and taking its place, so it means 'to replace or succeed'.