Über (, sometimes written
uber ) in English language publications, is a
German language word meaning "over", "above" or "across". It is an
etymological twin with German
ober, and is
cognate (through
Proto-Germanic) with English
over, Dutch
over and Icelandic
yfir, among other Germanic languages. It is also distantly cognate to both Latin
super and Greek ὑπέρ (
hyper), through
Proto-Indo-European. It is relatively well-known within Anglophone communities due to its occasional use as a hyphenated prefix in informal English, usually for emphasis. The German word is properly spelled with an
umlaut, while the spelling of the English loanword varies.