Select the correct spelling of the word that means ‘to replace’.

Correct — C. The word is supersede, from Latin super- ('above') plus sedere ('to sit') — to sit above something, and so to take its place.

That root is why the ending is -sede and not -cede or -ceed: the second half is sedere, not cedere. Supersede is the one English word that ends in -sede.

Options (a), (b) and (d) break the spelling in three different ways — a dropped final e, a doubled e, and a c for the s. The form that matches the root is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Supersed — Supersed drops the final e. The verb ends in a silent e — supersede, superseded — and without it the word is not an English form at all.
• (b)
  Superseed — Superseed doubles the e as though the word were built on the noun seed. The second element is Latin sedere, to sit, so there is nothing behind the double e.
• (d)
  Superceed — Superceed gets both halves wrong, a c for the s and a doubled e. Only exceed, proceed and succeed take -ceed, and supersede is not one of that three.

English writes the 'seed' sound three ways, and the split is fixed rather than phonetic.

-ceed takes three verbs: exceed, proceed, succeed.
-sede takes one: supersede.
-cede takes all the rest: precede, recede, concede, accede, intercede, secede.

Learn the two short lists and the long one is simply what is left. Supersede stands apart because its root is Latin sedere, to sit, while the -cede and -ceed words come from cedere, to go or yield.

Key facts

• Supersede means to take the place of something previously in use.
• Supersede is the only English word ending in -sede.
• Exceed, proceed and succeed are the only three verbs ending in -ceed.
• Supersede comes from Latin super- plus sedere, to sit above.

Common traps

• Spelling it superceed by analogy with proceed and exceed
• Assuming the word is built on 'seed' and doubling the e
• Dropping the final e and writing supersed

No directly related past PYQ was found.