LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

superbia

superbia f (genitive superbiae)
Classical[sʊˈpɛr.bi.a]Ecclesiastical[suˈpɛr.bi.a]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. femininepride, haughtiness, arrogance, snobbishness, insolence, lawlessness, wantonness
    Nōn ea vīs animō nec tanta superbia victīs.“[We do] not [have] this violence in mind, nor [is] such arrogance even [appropriate] for the defeated.” (Ilioneus assures Queen Dido that the Trojans have not come to raid Carthage.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.529
  2. feminineconceit, vanity
  3. femininerudeness, discourtesy

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

animus quī sē suprā omnēs pōnit.
superbia -ae f — in Mille Verba, Convīvium

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Superbia · Arrogantia · Fastus · Insolentia

Superbia, from self-sufficiency, thinks others beneath itself, and considers them only as to the inferiority of their endowments; pride, in opp. to humility, arrogantia would make others, who owe it no homage, sensible of its endowments or privileges, in opp. to modesty; fastus (from σπαθᾶν?) pushes men from itself, as unworthy to stand in connection with it, as a presumptuous, in opp. to a sober, unassuming disposition; insolentia (from salire, insilire,) misemploys its superiority, in a rude manner, to the humiliation of the weaker, as insolence, in opp. to humanity and magnanimity. The superbus would outshine others, the arrogans would encroach upon them; the fastosus despises them; the insolens insults them. (iv. 187.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesuperbiasuperbiae
genitivesuperbiaesuperbiārum
dativesuperbiaesuperbiīs
accusativesuperbiamsuperbiās
ablativesuperbiāsuperbiīs
vocativesuperbiasuperbiae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

insolentia, superbia inflatum esse
to be puffed up with pride.

sŭperbĭa, ae, f. superbus.
I. In a bad sense, loftiness, haughtiness, pride, arrogance (syn.: arrogantia, insolentia, fastidium, fastus): num sibi aut stultitia accessit aut superat superbia? Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 77: magnitudinem animi superbia (imitatur) in animis extollendis, Cic. Part. Or. 23, 81: divitiae dedecoris plenae sunt et insolentis superbiae, id. Rep. 1, 34, 51: abicio superbiam, Plaut. Merc. 5, 2, 10: in rebus prosperis superbiam magno opere, fastidium arrogantiamque fugiamus, id. Off. 1, 26, 90; so (with fastidium) id. Rep. 1, 32, 48; (with arrogantia) id. Inv. 1, 54, 105; Caes. Fragm. ap. Gell. 4, 16, 8; (with avaritia) Liv. 43, 2, 2; (with insolentia, contumacia) Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 41, § 89; (with importunitas), id. Rep. 1, 40, 62; id. Lael. 15, 54; (with inhumanitas) id. de Or. 1, 22, 99; (with crudelitas) Liv. 8, 33, 11; (opp. moderatio) id. 8, 33, 13: domicilium superbiae, id. Agr. 2, 35, 97: pone superbiam, Hor. C. 3, 10, 9: superbiam alicujus retundere, Phaedr. 4, 23, 21: in vultu damnosa superbia vestro, Ov A. A. 3, 509: silentium ipsius in superbiam accipiebatur, was interpreted as pride, Tac. A. 6, 19 (13) fin.: absit superbia, asperitas, Plin. Ep. 8, 24, 5: nec tanta superbia victis, Verg. A. 1, 529.—Plur.: secundas fortunas decent superbiae, Plaut. Stich. 2, 1, 28.—
2. Conceit, vanity: legatos, velut ad ludibrium stolidae superbiae in senatum vocatos esse, Liv. 45, 3, 3.—
3. Rudeness, discourtesy: superbiam tuam accusant, quod negent te percontantibus respondere, Cic. Fam. 7, 16, 3.— *
B. Transf., of things: album opus propter superbiam candoris concipit fumum, the delicacy of white (as a color), Vitr. 7, 3, 4.—
II. In a good sense, lofty spirit, honorable pride (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): sume superbiam Quaesitam meritis, Hor. C. 3, 30, 14: nec tantam Vespesiano superbiam, Tac. H. 3, 66.—
B. Transf., of things: eadem causa in piris taxatur superbiae cognomine, Plin. 15, 15, 16, § 53; cf. superbus, II. B. 1.

Origins

From superbus (“haughty, proud”).

Descendants
  • Frenchsuperbe
  • Italiansuperbia
  • Portuguesesoberba
  • Spanishsoberbia

In English words that came into English from superbia

  • superbious*superbiosus

Quick answers

What does superbia mean in Latin?
superbia, a noun, means “pride, haughtiness, arrogance, snobbishness, insolence, lawlessness, wantonness; conceit, vanity; rudeness, discourtesy”.
What is the genitive of superbia?
The genitive singular is superbiae. superbia is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce superbia?
In classical Latin, [sʊˈpɛr.bi.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [suˈpɛr.bi.a].