| 释义 |
superfluity|s(j)uːpəˈfluːɪtɪ|
Also 4–6 -ite, -yte, 6–7 -itie, (5 -itee, -ytee, -flovite, 6 -flueity, Sc. -flwitie).
[a. OF. superfluite (from 12th c.) = Pr. superfluitat, It. superfluità, Sp. superfluidad, Pg. -ade, ad. med.L. superfluitās, f. superfluus: see superflue and -ity.]
The quality of being, or something that is, superfluous.
1. Superabundant supply, superabundance; the condition of there being (or of one's having) more than enough; an instance of this.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 58 Þanne shulde man han etun and diffied, and delyvered him of superfluyte. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 465 Seculer lordes schulde take awey the superfluyte of here possessiouns, and ȝeve it to hem þat nedeþ. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. ix. 55 Many other myght haue ben fed and fulfylled with theyr superfluytees. 1526Tindale Mark xii. 44 They all putt in off their superfluite: But she off her poverte cast in all that she had. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 20 To beare the Inuentorie of thy shirts, as one for superfluity, and one other, for vse. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. vi. 165 Some think private mens superfluity is a necessary evill in a State. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iv. (1739) 10 This Island hath from time to time been no other than as a Sewer to empty the superfluity of the German Nations. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 104 ⁋2 They..naturally laid out their superfluities upon pleasure. 1781Cowper Charity 455 Her superfluity the poor supplies. 1803Malthus Popul. i. vi. 82 The common error of confounding a superfluity of inhabitants with great actual population. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 283 It receives too much sap, and ultimately perishes from superfluity, as the other did from insufficiency. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxxvi, The distasteful petty empire of her girlhood with its irksome lack of distinction and superfluity of sisters.
†b. Jocularly given as the ‘proper term’ for a company of nuns. Obs.
14..Porkington MS. 10 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1909) Suppl. 48 A Superflovite of nonnys.
2. The condition or fact of being more abundant or copious than is necessary; excessive quantity or number; esp. excess in diet or dress.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 436 Of his diete mesurable was he For it was of no superfluitee. c1386― Nun's Pr. T. 107 This dreem..Cometh of greet superfluytee Of youre rede Colera. c1450Mirk's Festial 126/2 Þe herys of his berd þat comyth of superfluyte of humors of þe stomok. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour e iv, The grete wast and superfluyte of her gownes. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 898 Prolixite is superfluitie of wordes in declaryng a thynge. 1591Spenser Ruines Rome xxiii, In a vicious bodie, grose disease Soone growes through humours superfluitie. 1671Dryden Even. Love Pref. a 2, I think there's no folly so great in any Poet of our Age as the superfluity and wast of wit was in some of our predecessors. 1733Cheyne Engl. Malady iii. iv. (1734) 304 Superfluity will always produce Redundancy, whether it be of Phlegm or Choler. 1820Lamb Elia Ser. i. South-sea House, Sums..set down with formal superfluity of ciphers. 1862Darwin Orchids vi. 276 Thus the act of fertilization is completed, and there is no superfluity in the means employed.
†b. in superfluity, of superfluity, to superfluity: in or to excess. Obs.
c1430Wyclif's Bible 1 Chron., Prol., Siche thingis that weren addid to of superfluyte, he markyde with litil ȝerdis. c1440Jacob's Well 136 Ȝif þou haue a coueytous loue to superfluyte of temperall ryches. 1562W. Bullein Bulwarke, Bk. Sick Men 51 If there be twoo humours, equall aboundyng together, extremely in superfluite.
c. Unnecessary action or procedure. arch.
Cf. superfluous a. 2 b.
c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1824 To make exposicion therof, new or olde, Were but superfluyte. 1905R. Garnett Shakespeare 85 So crammed the Court is with particulars, More to adduce were superfluity.
3. A thing or part that is in excess of what is necessary, or that can be dispensed with. Chiefly pl.
c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 77 Whenne superfluytes waxen in hem, þes tokenynges sewen. 1474Caxton Chesse iii. i. (1883) 76 A crokyd hachet for to cutte of the superfluytees of the vignes and trees. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 37 marg., Ryches and superfluites contemned. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋3 What thanks had he for cutting off the superfluities of the lawes? 1628T. Spencer Logick 189 The superfluities of a definition are 6. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 221 Like a superfluity it is every moneth driven forth the wombe. 1773Johnson Let. to Boswell 24 [22] Feb., Some superfluities I have expunged, and some faults I have corrected,..but the main fabrick of the work remains as it was. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. iii. I. 239 When we are in want of necessaries we must part with all superfluities. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Culture Wks. (Bohn) II. 374 Self-denial..that saves on superfluities and spends on essentials.
†4. Action or conduct characterized by or exhibiting excess or extravagance; immoderate indulgence or expenditure; an instance of this. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 9 They..eten also and drynken ouer hir myght, Thurgh which they doon the deuel sacrifise..By superfluytee abhomynable. c1425St. Mary of Oignies ii. iv. in Anglia VIII. 161/32 Whan a man fleeþ superfluyte, [he] sumtyme fallith into chynchery. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 51 He..ȝafe hym to ydelnes, lecchery, and to superfluites, wastenge nyȝhtes in lechery and synne. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxi. 252 He shewed many thynges to fall on the prelates of the Churche, for the great superfluitie and pryde that was as than vsed amonge theym. 1541Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 139, I will that..no superfluyte be mayde at my buriall. 1600Holland Livy xxxiv. iii. 854 That we might not be stinted and gaged in our excessive expenses, in our dissolute profusion, in costly vanities and superfluities. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 179 They,..whom superfluity, or sloth carrieth after their sensuall pleasures. 1801Farmer's Mag. Jan. 82 A rigid economy of our resources,..a retrenchment of every superfluity on the part of the opulent. |
