Step 1: Picture the parent-child relationship created by inheritance.
When a subclass extends a superclass, the resulting object actually contains a hidden parent part built from the superclass, and Java needs a way for the subclass code to reach that parent part directly.
Step 2: Introduce the keyword that provides this access.
The keyword super is exactly this reference, it lets a subclass call the superclass's constructor using super with parentheses, and it lets a subclass call an overridden method's original version using super followed by the method name.
Step 3: Separate it from similar sounding keywords.
Do not confuse it with this, which refers to the current object itself, or with final and new, which deal with constants and memory allocation respectively, none of which point back to the parent class the way super does.
\[ \boxed{\text{To refer to the superclass object}} \]