supercargo

From super- (prefix meaning ‘above; superior in position or title’) + earlier supracargo.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsuːpəˌkɑːɡəʊ/, (dated) /ˈsjuːpə-/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsupəɹˌkɑɹɡoʊ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: su‧per‧car‧go

supercargo (plural supercargos or supercargoes)

1. (nautical) Synonym of supracargo
   2. (historical) An officer on board a merchant ship who is in charge of the cargo and its sale; also, if there are two of such officers, the senior one, the other being the subcargo.
      • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LVIII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page 314:

        [A]t night, when the boat sailed along easily before a light breeze, and the sailors were gathered on the upper deck, while the captain and the supercargo lolled in deck-chairs, smoking their pipes, I saw him dance with another lad, dance wildly, to the wheezy music of the concertina.

   3. (obsolete) An agent or representative of a company in charge of its overseas business.
2. (figurative) Any overseer or superintendent; also, an agent or representative; or an intermediary; a go-between, a middleman.

• Sense 1.1 (“officer on board a merchant ship in charge of cargo and its sale”) is historical since nowadays a person with such a job would remain on shore.

• supercargoship

• supercargo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

supercargo

1. first-person singular present indicative of supercargar