superabound, v.
(ˌs(j)uːpərəˈbaʊnd)
Also 5 -habounde, 7 suprabound.
[ad. late L. superabundāre: see super- 9 b and abound v. Cf. obs. F. superabonder (OF., F. surabonder), It. soprabbondare, Sp. sobreabundar, Pg. sobreabundar, superabundar.]
1. intr. To abound beyond something else; to be more abundant. (Always with allusion to Rom. v. 20.)
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 154 Wher wrechydly Synne regnyd grace doth superhabounde. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 140 What shame is this..that where grace doth abounde, sinne shoulde so superabound? 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §175 If the Mercy, Favour, and Blessing of Almighty God, had not superabounded. 1749 Hartley Observ. Man ii. i. 15 Though Disorder, Pain, and Death do very much abound..yet Beauty, Order, Pleasure, Life, and Happiness, seem to superabound. 1879 Farrar St. Paul II. 219 An apparent paradox—If grace superabounds over sin, why should we not continue in sin? 1907 Month Nov. 535 Where distress abounds devotedness will superabound. |
† b. trans. To abound beyond, be more abundant than, exceed greatly. Obs. rare.
| a 1670 Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 149 Nothing was defective in him, but did exceedingly super-abound all which could be required in any Priest or Prophet. |
2. intr. To abound excessively; to be very, or too, abundant.
| c 1520 Nisbet N.T. 1 Tim. i. 14 The grace of our Lord superaboundit [Wycl. ouer habounde], with faith and lufe that is in Crist Jesu. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Ded. 1 The vanitie and ouerweening of yong men..haue so exceeded and superabounded. 1601 Dent Pathw. Heaven 155 Lying and dissembling are most rife,..but especially it doth ouerflow and superabound in shopkeepers and seruants. 1623 T. Scot Tongue-Combat 89 This Sect doth suprabound with you. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 227 Whatsoever doth superabound, issueth out of a full brest. 1827 H. Steuart Planter's Guide (1828) 461 Though no..fermentation can take place without moisture, yet moisture may superabound. 1834 H. Martineau Moral ii. 50 The capitalists do not need to combine when labour superabounds. |
b. with in or with: To abound excessively in; to possess or contain in great abundance.
| 1632 Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Unhappy Prosp. 12 ægypt,..super-abounded in pratteling, and artificyes to calumniate gouernors. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 13 Cony Ile..also superabounds with Seales. Ibid. 25 They [sea tortoises] superabound in eggs. 1749 Hartley Observ. Man ii. ii. 101 We do not find that forged or false Accounts of Things superabound in Particularities. 1802 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XIII. 10 The English language superabounds with hissings. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 119 To supply the country with that commodity in which it superabounded. |
Hence superabounding vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1560–1 First Bk. Discipl. Ch. Scot. in Knox's Wks. (1848) II. 186 Yit for ane uniformitie to be keipit, we have thocht gude to adde this as superaboundand. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 65 How many differences of wits grow by meanes of the superabounding of each of these three qualities. 1598 Deloney Jacke Newb. i. (1630) B j b, Maidens ficklenesse proceedes of vaine fancies, but old womens iealousie of superabounding loue. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ii. ii. 93 The superabounding grace of God. 1757 J. Edwards Orig. Sin ii. iv. §1 That superabounding of grace. 1883 American VII. 20 Nor are we so superabounding in capital that [etc.]. 1884 J. Parker Apost. Life II. 197 A superabounding religious spirit and activity. |