superfluus

Forms

superfluus (feminine superflua, neuter superfluum, adverb superfluō); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin superfluō (“to overflow”) + -us.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Seneca's Natural Questions, where a vast hidden body of water gives out only as much as is surplus.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note it as post-Augustan.^[6] The literal sense “overflowing” is found in Pliny the Younger's Panegyric, of rivers over the fields;^[6] the usual sense is “more than is needed, unnecessary”.^[2][6] Seneca writes that people might have found what was necessary had they not sought the superfluous.^[6] The jurists use it for what is left over, such as the surplus when a creditor sells a pledge for more than the debt, and the neuter as a noun for the balance.^[2] The neuter plural superflua meant the body's waste in Caelius Aurelianus.^[6] The Vulgate's 2 Maccabees calls praying for the dead, in one case, superfluum et vanum, “superfluous and vain”.^[6] Medieval Latin added the senses “abundant” and “unfounded, wrongful”.^[7] English took it in the early 15th century as superfluous, after the earlier superflue from Old French.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of what exceeds one's needs.^[2][5]
• before 212 AD – Papinian uses it for the surplus of the fruits of an estate.^[2][5]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses the neuter for the surplus left after a debt is paid.^[2][5]
• c. 370 AD – Eutropius speaks of superfluous laws.^[6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has superfluum et vanum in 2 Maccabees.^[6][5]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as superfluous.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Surplus to one's needs, superfluous, unnecessary.^[2][6]
2. Remaining in excess, surplus;^[2][6] (neuter as noun) the balance, the surplus.^[2][6]
3. Running over, overflowing.^[6]
4. (neuter plural as noun) Excrements.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) Abundant; excessive.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) Unfounded, wrongful, inadmissible.^[7]

Word family

• superfluitās
• superfluē

Related words

• superfluō
• English superfluous

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill