Etymologically
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surplus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsɜːpləs/ (UK); /ˈsɝˌplʌs/, /ˈsɝpləs/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English surplus, borrowed from Old French surplus (Old French also sorplus (“remainder, extra”)),[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin superplūs (“excess, surplus”),[2][3] from super- (“over, in addition”) and plūs (“more”) (see plus).[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

What remains over and above what is used or needed: about 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Barnhart (Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde).[6][2] The adjective is found before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.[2]

Semantic evolution

The remainder, the rest, is an obsolete sense from about 1400.[6] Surplus value in economics, especially in Marxism, is from 1816,[6] and in transferable-vote elections the votes beyond the quota from 1926.[6] Shops selling military surplus are from 1951.[6] In accounting, surplus is an excess of assets over liabilities or of income over spending.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – a remaining amount.[6]
  • before 1382 – surplus (adjective).[2]
  • 1816 – surplus value.[6]
  • 1951 – surplus stores.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An amount more than what is needed; an excess.
  2. (accounting) An excess of assets over liabilities, or of income over spending.

Adjective

  1. More than what is needed: surplus stock.

Word family

  • capital surplus
  • surplus value
  • plus
  • surplusage
  • super-
  • plural

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins