second vs superior

second

adj
  • Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior. 

  • Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two. 

  • Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another. 

noun
  • The agent of a party to an honour dispute whose role was to try to resolve the dispute or to make the necessary arrangements for a duel. 

  • An additional helping of food. 

  • Something that is number two in a series. 

  • A second-class honours degree. 

  • One-sixtieth of a minute; the SI unit of time, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest. 

  • A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree. 

  • The interval between two adjacent notes in a diatonic scale (either or both of them may be raised or lowered from the basic scale via any type of accidental). 

  • A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards. 

  • Second base. 

  • A short, indeterminate amount of time. 

  • Something that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority. 

  • One who supports or seconds a motion, or the act itself, as required in certain meetings to pass judgement etc. 

  • A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.) 

  • The place that is next below or after first in a race or contest. 

  • A Cub Scout appointed to assist the sixer. 

  • The second gear of an engine. 

  • One who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant. 

adv
  • After the first; at the second rank. 

  • After the first occurrence but before the third. 

verb
  • To climb after a lead climber. 

  • To assist or support; to back. 

  • To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (See under [[#Etymology 3]] for translations.) 

  • To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (This may come from the English adjective above.) 

  • To accompany by singing as the second performer. 

  • To follow in the next place; to succeed. 

  • To transfer temporarily to alternative employment. 

superior

adj
  • Higher in rank, status, or quality. 

  • Greater in size or power. 

  • Courageously or serenely indifferent (as to something painful or disheartening). 

  • (of a calyx) Above the ovary; said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part. 

  • Located above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad. 

  • Of high standard or quality. 

  • Located above or out; higher in position. 

  • Affecting or assuming an air of superiority. 

  • (of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs. 

  • Printed in superscript. 

  • (of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit. 

  • Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem. 

  • More comprehensive. 

  • (of a planet) Closer to the Earth than to the Sun. 

  • Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by. 

  • Greater or better than average. 

noun
  • The senior person in a monastic community. 

  • One who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services. 

  • A superior letter, figure, or symbol. 

  • The head of certain religious institutions and colleges. 

How often have the words second and superior occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )