Supervenire

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To occur as an addition or consequence to something else; to come upon or take place after a prior event or condition; to manifest as a result that arises from preceding circumstances
2. To happen as a secondary event that follows and interacts with initial factors; to emerge or become evident after something has already been established; to present itself as a new factor in a given situation
3. To take place subsequent to another occurrence, influencing or altering existing situations; to appear as an effect that builds upon prior conditions; to happen as a new and related factor after earlier events

Etymology: Supervenire is a Latin verb built from "super" ("upon, above, in addition") and "venire" ("to come"), so its literal sense is "to come upon" or "to arrive on top of." The Romans used it for something arriving in addition to, or unexpectedly on top of, an existing situation, and that is the source of the English meaning "to happen after or in addition to something." English took the idea directly from Latin in the form "supervene," with the sense of an event coming in after and altering a prior state. Philosophers and lawyers later leaned on it heavily: a "supervening" event in law is one that changes the situation after a contract or judgment is already in place, and in philosophy a supervenient property is one that depends on, and varies with, a more basic base set of properties. That technical sense is where most modern readers will meet the word.

Synonyms: occur, ensue, follow, arise, happen

Antonyms: precede, cease