overdo

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English overdon,^[2][3] inherited from Old English oferdōn (“to do too much, do to excess”),^[4][5][3][6] formed from ofer (“over”) and dōn (“to do”).^[4][3] The OED treats it as cognate with, or formed in the same way as, Old High German ubartuon (“to do to excess”), whose descendants are Middle High German übertuon and the now rare reflexive German übertun;^[7] Etymonline calls it a common Germanic formation.^[4] See over and do.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Already in Old English it meant to do something to excess: Bosworth–Toller quotes a homily saying that correction should be tempered with love and not overdone with cruelty, and the maxim ealle oferdón þing dæriaþ, rendering Latin omnia nimia nocent ("all things in excess do harm").^[5] The OED's first quotation of this sense is from Ælfric's Catholic Homilies.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English also used the verb, rendering Latin trānsigō (“to transact”), for completing or passing a period of time; this rare sense lasted until 1382.^[7] The intransitive use, to go to excess, is recorded from before 1325, in Walter de Bibbesworth's glossary,^[7][2] and overdo it, to carry a matter too far, from about 1400, in Langland's Piers Plowman.^[7] Chaucer used the participle overdoon once, for "taken to excess".^[9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to do more than enough", quoting Hamlet: "any thing so over-done is from the purpose of playing".^[10] The kitchen sense, to cook too long, appears in 1683,^[7] by the 1680s in Etymonline's dating, implied in the participle overdone.^[4] From 1817 the verb meant to tire out or exhaust;^[7][4] from 1853, overdo it could also mean to overtax one's strength.^[7] Newer uses are to make too much of an argument or joke (1825) and to have too much of a food or drink (1979).^[7] In northern and Midland dialects it meant to overcome with fatigue or trouble, as in "the poor thing's most overdone wi' it" in Northumberland.^[11]

Timeline

• Old English – to do to excess; also to pass or complete a period of time (obsolete by 1382).^[7][5]
• before 1325 – intransitive, to go to excess.^[7][2]
• c. 1400 – overdo it, to carry a matter too far.^[7]
• 1683 – to cook too long.^[7][4]
• 1817 – to tire out, exhaust.^[7][4]
• 1825 – to emphasize unduly, carry a joke or argument too far.^[7]
• 1853 – overdo it, to overexert oneself.^[7]
• 1979 – to have too much of a food or drink.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To do something to excess or carry it too far: The decorators overdid the gold paint in the hallway.^[12][3][7]
2. To use too much of something: Try not to overdo the salt.^[3][13][7]
3. To exaggerate or overplay: The lead actor overdid the death scene.^[12][13][7]
4. To cook food for too long.^[12][13][7]
5. overdo it (or overdo things): to do more than one's strength allows; to overwork.^[12][7]
6. To tire out or exhaust.^[13][7]
7. (intransitive) To go to extremes.^[13][7]

Word family

• overdoer

Related words

• over
• do
• overdue

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster