The adjective übermenschlich means super-human: beyond human strength or out of proportion to humanity. Mensch refers to a human being, rather than a male specifically. The German prefix über can have connotations of superiority, transcendence, excessiveness, or intensity, depending on the words to which it is attached. Scholars continue to employ both terms, some simply opting to reproduce the German word. A better translation like "superior humans" might better fit the concept of Nietzsche as he unfolds his narrative. Kaufmann and others preferred to translate Übermensch as "overman". Walter Kaufmann lambasted this translation in the 1950s for two reasons: first, the failure of the English prefix "super" to capture the nuance of the German über (though in Latin, its meaning of "above" or "beyond" is closer to the German) and second, for promoting misidentification of Nietzsche's concept with the comic-book character Superman. In 1909, Thomas Common translated it as "Superman", following the terminology of George Bernard Shaw's 1903 stage play Man and Superman. In 1896, Alexander Tille made the first English translation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, rendering Übermensch as "Beyond-Man".
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