"Supercede" is the incorrect but more common way to spell "
supersede." This spelling makes more sense, since the word
supersede is derived from the
Middle English "superceden" from
Old French "superceder" (to postpone) from Latin "supersedere" (to refrain from - the next to the last E should look different, but I couldn't find the character and it wouldn't
copy/paste). Ok, so we get the 's' back if we take the
derivation too far, but why go back to the original way after evolving through two languages? In case you're curious (I was, slightly), the Latin root is not the same as that for "
cede" - that one's from the Latin "cedere," to yield. If you go back to
Indo-European roots, that's
sed vs.
ked. (Derivations courtesy http://www.dictionary.com.)
This is the first useful thing the VAX has told me in weeks. It told me, "%DCL-I-SUPERSEDE, previous value of FOR001 has been superseded." I thought it was lying. I unjustly yelled at it. It insisted. I looked it up. I've been misspelling this word for... at least 15 years!