exorbitant, a. and n.
(ɛgˈzɔːbɪtənt)
Also 6 exorbytant, 6–8 exhorbitant, -ent.
[ad. late L. exorbitant-em, pr. pple. of exorbitāre to go out of the track, f. ex- out + orbita wheel-track: see orbit n. Cf. Fr. exorbitant.]
A. adj.
† 1. Leaving a specified track; deviating from a specified rule or principle. Of remarks, discussions, etc.: Wandering from the subject, irrelevant. Obs.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 46 Suche play as is not exorbytant fro the exercyse of honesty. 1599 Broughton's Lett. ix. 30 A..government, exorbitant from the milde course of law and iustice. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 369 Having..mentioned such a story, it is not exorbitant to add in one word other fictions. 1644 Jessop Angel of Eph. 50 How exorbitant from this rule the practices of our Prelates have been. 1674 Owen Holy Spirit (1693) 45 Exorbitant from the Principles of Nature. |
† b. Projecting, salient. Obs.
| 1714 Derham Astro-theol. v. v. (1769) 144 [Had the earth been square] they must have been..retarded..by the exorbitant angles. |
2. Deviating from the normal, prescribed, or customary track. † a. Of movements, conduct, etc.: Eccentric, erratic, irregular (obs.).
| 1613 Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. (1626) 67 Strong raines to hold him in, from all exorbitant courses. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 35 The Commons when they see such a Blazing-star in course so exorbitant..cannot but look upon it. 1673 Lady's Call. i. §1. 5 The vanity of wit..has no where a more free and exorbitant range than in censuring and deriding. |
b. [After use of exorbitans in Roman Law.] Of cases, offences, etc.: Anomalous, not coming within the intended scope of a law. Of powers, privileges, enactments: Abnormal, not in accordance with general principle.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 47 What sume thay [the king's charges] be not like to excede, but if..ther fal a Case over much exorbitant. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. xi. (1611) 114 Causes exorbitant, and such as their lawes had not provided for. 1675 [cf. 4 a]. a 1754 Fielding Charge to Grand Jury Wks. 1784 X. 161 The punishment..is fine or imprisonment; and if the case be exorbitant, by pillory and loss of ears. 1756 Nugent Montesquieu's Spir. Laws (1758) I. ii. iii. 19 A magistrate invested with an exorbitant power. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. 909 Though the law and the right are ‘exorbitant’ or ‘eccentric’. Ibid. II. 981 They are mere anomalies: exorbitant or irregular commands. |
† c. Aberrant from the common type, monstrous, abnormal. Obs.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 358 The colour of Lions is generally yellow, for these before spoken of, black, white and red, are exorbitant. 1662 Gerbier Princ. 23 Those passions become the original causes of exorbitant Features and Forms. |
† d. Of an insane person or his condition: Extravagant, frantic, wild. Obs.
| 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 620 We found him [a madman] somewhat less exorbitant. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. ii. i. (1852) 358 The wretch continued in an exorbitant frame for a few days. |
† 3. Forsaking, or apt to forsake, the right path; erring, faulty, transgressing, trespassing. Obs.
| 1556 Lauder Tractate 195 Raisand gret derth, exhorbitent Aganis ȝour actis of Parliament. 15.. Sir H. Sidney in Ussher's Lett. (1686) App. 25 That thou, entring into this exorbitant Age, mayest be..prepared to shun those courses. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iv. vi, I haue..transgrest Against the dignitie of the court..And beene exorbitant. a 1638 Mede Disc. Prov. iv. 23 Wks. i. 203 We must resist and crush every exorbitant thought which draws to sin. 1640 Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. 8/2 The very patriarchs and princes of God's peculiar people were palpably exorbitant in this kind. 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref., The people exorbitant and excessive in all thir motions. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 98 Over-rule their exorbitant Passions. |
4. Exceeding ordinary or proper bounds. a. Going to excess in any action or quality. Of actions, appetites, desire, etc.: Excessive, immoderate. arch. Now with stronger sense: Grossly or flagrantly excessive.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. xi, Appetites both good..if they be moderate, both pernitious if they be exorbitant. 1622–62 Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 58/2 They had formerly been exorbitant in the worship of Idols. 1659 Wharton Disc. Astrol. Wks. (1683) 185 The exorbitant Practice of frequent Blood-letting. 1675 tr. Machiavelli's Prince xvii. (Rtldg. 1883) 104 Exorbitant mercy has an ill effect. 1719 J. Richardson Science Connoisseur 147 Some are Exorbitant in the Praises of what Themselves Possess. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. xxvi. (1826) 389 The exorbitant multiplication of some troublesome insects. 1853 Herschel Pop. Lect. Sc. ii. §21 (1873) 63 The excessive, exorbitant prodigality of diffusion of the sun's light and heat. 1871 Browning Balaust. 282 They wondered strangers were exorbitant In estimation of Euripides. |
† b. Exceeding one's rights, encroaching. Obs.
| 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 790 By the exorbitant authoritie of the Pope, this election was disanulled. a 1635 Nauton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 45 My Lord of Essex..was so exorbitant in the limitation of the Soveraign aspect. |
c. Of a price, rate, stipulation, demand, claim, etc.: Grossly excessive.
| 1670 R. Coke Disc. Trade 24 The Exorbitant Impositions of the King of Denmark. 1722 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 845 Nor were his conditions exorbitant. 1729 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 255 To restrain men from giving and receiving exorbitant interest. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xlvi. 721 He exhausted their wealth by exorbitant tributes. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 159 The Indians..raised the price of horses to an exorbitant rate. 1860 Kingsley Misc. II. 205 The landlord can obtain an exorbitant rent. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 385 The informers..are far from being exorbitant in their demands. 1879 M. Arnold Irish Catholicism Mixed Ess. 126 To advance pretensions the most exorbitant. |
d. Of power, wealth, etc.: Overgrown, enormous, excessive. arch.
| 1648 Nicholas Papers (Camden) I. 116, I hold Lord Jermins..power as vast and exorbitant. 1693 Locke Educ. §7 An exorbitant fortune. c 1771 J. Fletcher Check iv. Wks. 1795 III. 12 Your favourite doctrines..would lose their exorbitant influence. 1816 F. H. Naylor Hist. Germany I. i. ix. 362 Prescribing bounds to the exhorbitant power of Austria. |
e. Of a material object, an outline, or surface: Disproportionately large, excessive in any dimension; in mod. use, outrageously or extravagantly large. Also fig. arch.
| 1662 Gerbier Princ. 9 Those exorbitant Chimney-Shafts. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. x. (1743) 228 The exorbitant extent and compass of Parishes. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 382/1 The exorbitant and over-burnt Wick in a candle. 1709 Sacheverell Serm. 15 Aug. 15 This Over⁓grown, this Exorbitant Sinner. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. ii. iv. (1737) II. 303 Its chief Bulk being compos'd of two exorbitant Muscles. 1843 Carlyle Past. & Pr. (1858) 169 With exorbitant breast-pin. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola (1880) I. 5 The exorbitant line of the Pitti [palace] roof [at Florence] is hidden from San Miniato. |
† B. n. One who or something which exceeds proper limits. Obs. rare.
| 1626 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 277 Howsoeuer exorbitants behaued themselues, they [Brethren] yet should continue in weldoing. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 25 His Majesty..demanded justice against those exorbitants. a 1714 M. Henry Wks. I. 135 The most..daring exorbitants of an ungoverned tongue. |