eli5-if extraordinary is the opposite of ordinary, why is it spelled “extra-ordinary”? same goes for supernatural
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*extra-*, as a Latin root, means “outside of, beyond”. So something that is extraordinary is outside of or beyond what ordinarily happens. A more literal modern English translation might be “out of the ordinary”.
The other usage, to mean “more of something”, comes from that same root. An *extra* cookie is another cookie *outside of or beyond* what you expected, paid for, etc.
*Super* has a similar origin. The original sense of the word is “above, higher than” as in a direction or a hierarchy. Gods (in particular the Christian god, in the case of the origin of this specific word) are both literally and figuratively *above* nature, and hence *super*-natural.
The modern usage of *super* to mean “very, extremely” comes from the sense of “above”, in the sense that “more” of something is (visually) a higher “pile”. The exact same process happened for its Greek equivalent, *hyper-* (which itself shares a root with Latin *super*).
It’s not so much the opposite, more like ‘above and /or beyond’.
Think of the phrase “above average”, or even a mundane phrase like saying “it’s super cold today”.
“Extra” in this context does not mean “more.” It comes from the Latin word for “outside,” so that “extraordinary” means “**outside** the usual **order** of things.”
It’s not the “opposite”, it is exactly what the prefix denotes – extra ordinary. It is beyond the ordinary. Super means “over” – so supernatural is not the opposite of natural, it is that which is “over” or “above” the natural. A better opposite for natural would be synthetic.
The opposite of ordinary would be abnormal (depending on context). Extraordinary would be “beyond the ordinary”. The opposite of natural is unnatural. Similarly supernatural would take the (in some cases) meaning “beyond or not explained by natural phenomena”.
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