Word.ws English Dictionary

supremum

UK/səˈpɹiːˌmʌm/US/səˈpɹiˌmʌm/

supremum noun: (real analysis): Given a subset X of R, the smallest real number that is ≥ every element of X; (order theory): given a subset X of a partially ordered set P (with partial order ≤), the least element y of P such that every element of X is ≤ y.

Noun

supremum (plural supremums or suprema)

  1. (real analysis): Given a subset X of R, the smallest real number that is ≥ every element of X; (order theory): given a subset X of a partially ordered set P (with partial order ≤), the least element y of P such that every element of X is ≤ y.
    • A sublattice of a lattice is a subset that is closed under pairwise infima and suprema.2006, Charalambos D. Aliprantis, Kim C. Border, Infinite Dimensional Analysis: A Hitchhiker's Guide, 3rd edition, Springer, page 8
    • The best way to describe the supremum of S is to say that it wants to be the greatest element of S. In fact, if S has a greatest element, then that element is the supremum.2010, James S. Howland, Basic Real Analysis, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, page 9

Synonyms of supremum

Forms of supremum

pluralsupremums
pluralsuprema

Origin of supremum

Borrowed from Latin supremum.

Words formed from supremum

Questions about supremum

What does supremum mean?
Supremum means (real analysis): Given a subset X of R, the smallest real number that is ≥ every element of X; (order theory): given a subset X of a partially ordered set P (with partial order ≤), the least element y of P such that every element of X is ≤ y.
What part of speech is supremum?
Supremum is a noun.
How do you pronounce supremum?
Supremum is pronounced /səˈpɹiːˌmʌm/ (UK).
What is the plural of supremum?
The plural of supremum is supremums.

Words near supremum in the dictionary

  1. supremities
  2. supremity
  3. supremo
  4. supremoes
  5. supremos
  6. supremum
  7. supremums
  8. Suprenant
  9. supretemporal
  10. suprise
  11. suprised

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: supremum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supremum.wav.

Cite this entry: “supremum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/supremum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.