superabundance
(ˌs(j)uːpərəˈbʌndəns)
Also 5–6 -habundaunce, 6 -haboundaunce, 6–7 -aboundance.
[ad. late L. superabundantia, f. pres. pple. of superabundāre to superabound: see -ance. Cf. obs. F. superabondance (OF., F. sur-).]
1. The quality of being superabundant; the fact or condition of superabounding; excessive abundance or plentifulness; redundance.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 37 Puttenge signes þer callede obeli, to betokyn superhabundaunce. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 263 b, Superhaboundaunce or lacke of some humour, whiche disordereth the body. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. 1904 II. 124 It is the superaboundance of witte that makes Atheists. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth v. (1723) 262 The Luxury and Superabundance of the Productions of the Earth. 1783 Justamond tr. Raynal's Hist. Indies II. 3 The superabundance of population in islands. 1831 Brewster Nat. Magic i. (1833) 7 The task of selection is rendered extremely difficult, by the superabundance of materials. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 225 Such shall be the abundance and superabundance of blessing, that it shall be as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down. |
2. That which superabounds; a superabundant quantity or amount; a surplus (of something).
| c 1410 Hoccleve Min. Poems in De Reg. Princ. (1897) p. lx, I pray you..Of youre merites superhabundaunce, As grauntith me of almesse some pietaunce. 1576 Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 77 That the stomacke be not over⁓cloyed and charged with superabundance or excesse. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 59 For a man to adorne another is an excellent ornament proceeding from a superabundance (as it were) of glorie and honor which is in himselfe. 1785 Phillips Treat. Inland Nav. p. v, Navigation..conveys the superabundance of the productions and manufactures of one country..to another. 1827 Hare Guesses Ser. i. (1859) 1 A mother should desire to give her children a superabundance of enthusiasm. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 219/2 To relieve it of its super-abundance of water. |