superior

Superior

One who has a right to give orders; belonging to a higher grade.

A superior is someone or something entitled to command, influence, or control. In the judicial system, a superior court has general or extensive jurisdiction, as opposed to an inferior court. A superior court bears a different meaning in different states. In some states, it is a tribunal of intermediate jurisdiction between the trial courts and the chief appellate court; in other states, however, it is the name given to trial courts.

In the law of Negligence, a superior force is an uncontrollable and irresistible force that produces results that could not be avoided.

In real property, a holder of a superior estate has an Easement, or a nonpossessory interest in land, in an inferior estate.

superior

in feudal law, the person from whom a person lower in the feudal chain holds his land.

SUPERIOR. One who has a right to command; one who holds a superior rank; as, a soldier is bound to obey his superior.
     2. In estates, some are superior to others; an estate entitled to a servitude or easement over another estate, is called the superior or dominant, and the other the inferior or servient estate. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1612.
     3. Of courts, some are supreme or superior, possessing in general appellate jurisdiction, either by writ of error or by appeal; 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 2527; the others are called inferior courts.