It all started with Superman. Before we knew what was happening, some fictional guy was donning tights and a cape and demonstrating superior powers, thus the beginning of the Super Bowl.

Actually, if you want to go way back, it started with supernova, when the first star exploded and emitted far more energy than is normally seen except, perhaps, in the supernatural. You’d really need superlative intelligence to follow all this, so we’ll move on to more mundane matters, which generally are superabundant in this column.

So eventually, the first supermarket was built, turning a suburb site into a large self-service retail food and household goods store, maintained, of course, by a superintendent.

Next door, a furniture and mattress company moved in and not too long afterward started advertising supersales, discounting its prices on super-sized mattresses that were so well-padded not even the princess could feel the pea.

Over time, the beds grew longer and even thicker, the pillows grew fatter, the fitted sheets had expandable panels as consumers’ quest for super-size superseded all else.

As the shopping center’s supervisors concluded, it was time to introduce a fast-food chain that specialized in various portions of meals and beverages from small to large. But as the vehicles that lined up to the drive-through windows got larger and lengthier, taller and wider, what supervened was that the fast-food meals also grew. So much so that the common question, “Would you like to supersize this?” was answered, for the most part, in the supernumerary.

What we’ve seen over the years is a society supercharged with the word “super” to the extent the very meaning of the word is lost from overuse. We have superimposed the word “super” so that it packs none of its original wallop.

In fact, the word is not superior to others after all, despite its definition in the dictionary, which some people would find superannuated in itself.

We’re so weary of “super” that it’s no longer a superb adjective. What is a “super cab” on a truck? What part of a building is classified as the “superstructure?” Exactly how much popcorn is in a “super-sized” tub?

While endlessly waiting for the Super Bowl to start last Sunday, we read a newspaper story, the subject of which was so superficial we dare mention it.

Seems Regis Philbin will return on ABC to bring back to television viewers a new version of the game “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The series will be called “Super Millionaire.”

Talk about superfluous.