superabundant, a.
(ˌs(j)uːpərəˈbʌndənt)
Also 5–6 -habunda(u)nt, -habounda(u)nt, 6–7 -aboundant; 7 sup'rabundant.
[ad. late L. superabundant-, -ans, pres. pple. of superabundāre to superabound: see -ant. (Cf. F. surabondant.)]
1. Abounding above something else, or above measure; more than (barely) sufficient, enough and to spare; exceedingly abundant or plentiful. Now rare or merged in 2 (but cf. next, 1).
| c 1410 Hoccleve Min. Poems in De Reg. Princ. (1897) p. xlix, To þat only was thi talent & thi chiere So suffisaunt, lo,—that oure raunsoum were Superhabundaunt over þat was due. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cxxx. Wks. (1876) 207 Of the whiche superhaboundaunt mercy we haue..spoken. 1592 Nashe Strange Newes (1593) 69, I wish vnto thee all superabundant increase. a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 112 The Passion of Christ..was not onely a sufficient, but a superabundant satisfaction for the sinne, of all Mankind. 1683 Brit. Spec. 249 Out of their superabundant Loyalty. 1728 Morgan Algiers II. ii. 234 Every Nation has its Peculiarities; nor has Ours abundance of Reason to brag of its super-abundant Regularity. 1830 Mackintosh Eth. Philos. Wks. 1846 I. 215 His gratitude and native modesty dictated a superabundant care in softening and excusing his dissent from those who had been his own instructors. |
2. Abounding above what is fitting or needful; exceeding the normal or required amount; too abundant; more than sufficient (in a bad sense).
| [1432–50: cf. superabundantly 2]. 1531 Elyot Gov. iii. xi, Whan the bloode is corrupted, and eyther fleame or Colere..is superhabundaunt, than in the body be ingendred sores and diseases. 1636 in Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 281 Out of a superaboundant caution. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Wine, Vinegar which has once thrown off the super-abundant earthy parts, and many of the oily ones. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 363 This forces the superabundant mercury from the amalgam, and renders it solid. 1835 Thirlwall Greece viii. I. 324 A superabundant population might have been easily discharged by the ordinary expedient of a colony. 1871 H. Macmillan True Vine v. 216 The leaves..need sometimes to be taken away, as super-abundant foliage would shade the fruit. |
† b. Abounding overmuch in, having or containing too much (of something). Obs. rare.
| 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies xxiv. §8. 222 Vnlesse the mothers seede, do supply or temper, what the fathers was defectiue or superaboundant in. |